Persona 4 Resonance of the Abyss
by Dr.Evil
Summary: After the Abyss of Time disappears, a girl awakens from a long sleep.  How will her presence affect the town of Inaba, and the events that are about to happen there?
1. Chapter 1

**Persona 4- Resonance of the Abyss**

April 1st 2011. Afternoon- Tatsumi Memorial Hospital- Room 303

A nurse and a doctor were looking over a medical chart of the patient that was occupying the room, a comatose sixteen year old girl.

"So this girl has been in a coma for ten years?" asked the nurse.

"Yes, that's right. You've just started here Mariko so you don't know about this patient's story," replied the doctor. "She was a victim of that horrible incident that occurred in this island ten years go."

"Oh, that awful explosion that killed so many people? She's a victim of that?"

"I'm afraid so," said the doctor as he looked over the chart's information. "She was found and brought here by someone from the Kirijo Group. Unfortunately, we don't even know who she is. No one ever came to claim her. It's a sad story indeed."

"How horrible..." trailed the nurse as she looked down at the teenager. "I..."

The doctor continued to look at the chart. Noting the nurses sudden silence he glanced up at her.

"Something the matter Mariko?"

"Doctor, the girl...she's...awake!"

The doctor quickly looked over to the patient, who was now looking at the two of them with a confused expression.

"You're really awake! I don't believe it!" said the doctor as he rushed to the girl's side.

The girl looked up at the doctor. "W-where am I? What's going on?"

"Calm down, young lady," reassured the doctor. "You're in Tatsumi Memorial Hospital. You've been in a coma for a very long time."

"What?" The girl seemed even more confused. "I don't understand."

"I know all of this is very confusing, but we will help you any way that we can," said the doctor. "For starters, can you tell us your name?"

"My name?" The girl thought for a moment before answering, "My name is...Hamuko. Hamuko Arisato."

"Did you say Arisato?" The doctor thought for a moment. _She has the same last name as that young man who passed away just a short while ago. It was reported that his family was killed in that incident, but if this girl is telling us the truth then it all makes sense..._ "Watch over her for me for a moment Mariko. There's someone that needs to know about this..."

"Yes, Doctor," answered the nurse.

Leaving the room, the doctor took out his cell phone and quickly dialed a number.

"Mitsuru? This is Doctor Kajuro over at Tatsumi Memorial. I have something urgent that requires your attention here."

"_What? Is it really that important that I need to be there? I've had a bit of a long day, so to speak..."_

"You'll understand when you get here. Come to room 303 when you get here."

"_Alright. This had better be as important as you say it is."_

The hospital 45 minutes later...

Mitsuru Kirijo found herself in front of the door to room 303, and the doctor next to it.

"Well, what's this about, Doctor?" she asked in a slightly annoyed tone. After her ordeal in the Abyss of Time with her friends, a needless visit to this place wasn't very high on her list of things to do.

"It's about the patient in this room Mitsuru," replied the doctor. "You were friends with that young man who passed away recently- Minato was it?"

"Yes, that's right," answered Mitsuru in a sad tone. The mere mention of his name reminded her of the sacrifice he had made for her and everyone else.

"The girl in this room was a coma patient for the last ten years. She woke up today and claims to be that young man's sister."

"What?" Mitsuru's eyes widened in surprise. "But the report we had on him said that his family was killed ten years ago during the incident. Are you sure she is telling the truth?"

The doctor scratched his head. "Maybe the report was wrong? I'll look into that matter, but as far as I can tell, she has no reason to lie."

"Does she know anything about her family, or her brother?"

"Not yet," said the doctor. "We don't want to risk any kind of emotional trauma so soon after her waking up. I don't suggest you tell her about it when you speak with her."

"Understood," said Mitsuru. "Shall we then?"

The doctor nodded and opened the door for Mitsuru, who entered and walked next to the girl inside.

_She does resemble him a little bit,_ thought Mitsuru as she looked at the girl's reddish-brown hair and pale skin. "Hello, Hamuko-san, how are you feeling?"

"Fine, I guess," said Hamuko, looking up at Mitsuru. "Um, who are you?"

"Oh, my apologies," said Mitsuru. "My name is Mitsuru Kirijo. I'm a ...family friend."

"Oh, I see," replied Hamuko. "The doctors said that I was in a coma for ten years... My memories are kind of fuzzy right now."

"It's okay Hamuko, take your time with things," said Mitsuru. "There is something I need to ask you however, if that's okay."

"Sure, I'll do my best to answer."

"Do you remember anything about the day when you went into your coma? I don't want to make you remember anything unpleasant but it is important."

"I was with my parents and my brother," said Hamuko as she tried to recall the memory. "We were near a bridge I think? Suddenly there was this loud sound. I heard my parent scream and then...nothing. I'm sorry, but that's all I remember."

Mitsuru took a moment to take in what the girl had just told her. _Everything indicates that she really is Minato's sister. But, why wake up now? Did it have something to do with the Abyss of Time? Or is it just fate?_

"Thank you Hamuko, what you've told me was enough," she said as she gave the girl a smile.

"My parents, they're dead aren't they?" asked Hamuko as she looked away from Mitsuru. "And my brother too?"

"Hamuko, I don't-" Mitsuru trailed.

"It's okay," said Hamuko as she closed her eyes with a sad smile. "The way everyone was avoiding the question earlier made it easy for me to figure out."

"It's true that your parents died on that day," said Mitsuru after a long pause. "Your brother survived, but...He died from an...illness just recently. I'm sorry."

"They're in heaven at least," said Hamuko as she looked back at Mitsuru. "So it's not all bad. But, what happens to me now?"

Doctor Kajuro walked up next to Mitsuru. "We need to run some tests on you for the next week. Standard procedure and all. Once that's taken care of, we'll see about releasing you from the hospital."

"Oh, okay," said Hamuko.

"Now then, I hate to cut this visit short, but there are still a few tests we need to with her right now Mitsuru," said the doctor. "I'd suggest you return next week when everything is finished, and we have a more solid conclusion to her overall condition.

Mitsuru nodded. "Very well. I'll leave her in your hands doctor. I'll be back next week to check up on you Hamuko if you don't mind."

Hamuko nodded and smiled. "Okay." Even though she had never met Mitsuru before, she felt like she could trust her. Besides, what choice did she have? She no longer had any family.

Mitsuru left the room and began walking toward the hospital exit, a thousand thoughts swirling in her head. _Do I tell the others about her? No, not yet. Not until I know more about her... Hopefully the doctors will have some more answers next week when I return._

April 8th. Afternoon - Tatsumi Memorial Hospital

Mitsuru had found herself back in the hospital, standing in Room 303 with Hamuko and Doctor Kajuro.

"Ah, you're here Mitsuru," said the doctor. "I'm glad you've come."

"I take it the testing has finished?" asked Mitsuru.

"Yes indeed," nodded the doctor. "For starters, after comparing her DNA with a sample we had from Minato, we can be certain that she is who she says she is."

"That's...good," said Mitsuru. _So she really is his sister..._

"Physically she's below-average compared to what she should be, but considering the reason why it is understandable," continued the doctor. "Once she's out and about I think time will take care of that. Her intelligence, we have found out, is exactly where a high schooler her age should be at."

"Wait, is that normal?" asked Mitsuru. "I mean she has been asleep for ten years."

"It's puzzling for sure," agreed the doctor. "But, I don't think we should be complaining. Perhaps it is a small miracle."

"Anything else?" asked Mitsuru.

"The other tests came up normal," said the doctor. "She could be released as soon as tomorrow."

"W-wait," said Hamuko. "What happens to me after that? I...don't have anywhere to go."

"I could arrange to have you move into one of the dorms near Gekkoukan High School," said Mitsuru. "I can arrange to have you attend the school as well."

"Um, Mitsuru, I'm not sure that's a good idea," said the doctor.

"Why not?" asked Mitsuru, a somewhat frustrated look on her face.

"A lot of things have changed since she was in a coma," answered the doctor. "To be honest, the city is not an ideal place for her to start her recovery, physically or socially. If it were possible I'd have prefer her to be placed in a more rural environment."

"Rural?" Mitsuru pondered the thought. It was true that if she remained in the city, she would become an instant topic for everyone at the high school, including the former SEES members, considering how popular her brother had been. She could see how things could quickly turn bad for Hamuko. If she were to go to a place where no one knew her however...

"I understand," said Mitsuru. "Actually I have just the place in mind, if you're okay with it that is, Hamuko."

"Huh?" asked Hamuko.

"There's a small town a few hours away from here called Inaba," explained Mitsuru. "My family owns a house there, so if you want, I can arrange to have you stay there, and attend school there as well."

"You would do this for me?" asked Hamuko. "I'm grateful and all, but...why?

"I did say I was a family friend when we first met right?" asked Mitsuru with a smile. "Also, I owe a lot to your brother, so perhaps this would be my way of paying him back..."

"I see," said Hamuko. "When you put it that way, I can sort of understand. I'll accept your offer then."

"Very well," said Mitsuru. "I'll take care of everything, so you just focus on getting some more rest. And your new life."

"Inaba huh?" said the doctor as he looked at Hamuko. "Well, that's rural all right. From what I hear it's famous for two t hings. The Inn they have there, and the fact that nothing ever happens there. I'd say you'd have one very peaceful year ahead of you young lady."


	2. Chapter 2

**April 11th Morning - Port Island Station**

It had been only a few hours since Hamuko had been finally released from the hospital and already she found herself preparing to leave yet again; this time from Tatsumi Port Island itself. She stood in front of Tatsumi Port Island Station, dressed in a school uniform that was not Gekkoukan High's. Behind her stood Mitsuru, Doctor Kajuro, and Mariko, the nurse that had taken care of her.

Hamuko turned around and faced the trio that had come to see her off.

"I must admit, Yasogami High does have a pretty stylish uniform," said Mitsuru as she walked up to Hamuko, holding a silver briefcase. "Don't you agree Hamuko?"

Looking down at her black and white checkered skirt and then at the black denim uniform jacket she wore, Hamuko couldn't help but agree. "It does beat a hospital gown, for sure!"

"Well, hopefully you won't have to wear one of those again for a long, long time," chuckled Dr. Kajuro. "Of course you'll still need to have checkups done, but I'll take care of the arrangements at the hospital in Inaba, so that is one less thing for you to worry about."

"_The train bound for Yasoinaba Station will be departing in seven minutes," _sounded an announcement over a loudspeaker.

"Hmm, it's almost time then, huh?" said Mitsuru.

"Well then, Mitsuru-san I'll let you two say your goodbyes," said the doctor as he motioned toward Mariko. "Come, Mariko."

"Good luck Hamuko-chan!" said Mariko as she waved at the girl. "Being able to be a part of your recovery has been a wonderful experience for me!"

After the two took their leave Mitsuru held up the briefcase and unlocked it. "Before you go there are a few things I want to give to you."

Hamuko nodded. _I wonder what they could be?_ She watched as Mitsuru opened the briefcase and then looked inside it. The contents were, to her, strange at best. Her rust-colored eyes first noticed a red cuff with the letters SEES printed on it. Hamuko had no idea what it meant.

The second item was a pair of orange headphones and what looked like the smallest portable music player she had ever seen. _Where does the CD go?_ She wondered.

The final item was a white holster and a...gun? Her eyes widened at the sight.

"Um, perhaps I should explain," said Mitsuru after a nervous laugh up seeing the girl's reaction to the last item. "These three items all belonged to your brother, Minato. Each one had a specific importance to him, and as such I thought you should have them."

"I see, but...A gun?" Hamuko asked. "Is it really okay for me to have that?"

"Oh, it's not a real gun," clarified Mitsuru as she shut the briefcase and handed it out to her. "There's a story behind it as well as the rest of the items, but that's for a later time. Just don't go running around waving it in the air on the train or in town okay?"

"As if!" laughed Hamuko as she took the briefcase. "Don't worry, I'll be a good girl."

"Good to hear," said Mitsuru as she removed the pink handbag she was wearing. "This is for you too."

"Oh, thank you," said Hamuko as she took the handbag.

"_The train bound for Yasoinaba Station will be departing in two minutes. All passengers should board the train now."_

"Okay, then, I guess it's time," said Mitsuru as she put her left hand on Hamuko's shoulder. "Remember that when you arrive in Inaba, a man named Takao will be waiting for you. He's the caretaker of the house you'll be staying in."

"Takao...Got it," said Hamuko. "I really can't thank you enough Mitsuru-san. I know you must have gone though a lot of trouble to do all of this for me..."

Mitsuru smiled and shook her head. "It's no trouble at all, believe me. Now hurry up or you'll miss the train!" 

Hamuko nodded and gave a bow to Mitsuru before walking up to the train. Taking one last look at Mitsuru she boarded the train.

"_The train bound for Yasoinaba Station is now departing."_

Mitsuru watched as the train departed from the station. _Good luck Hamuko...Make him proud._

**Five minutes later – Aboard the train**

As the train traveled through Port Tatsumi Island, Hamuko took the chance to watch the various sights through the window. Much of the city did look like she had remembered it, almost as if whatever it was that happened to the city and to her and her parents ten years ago had never happened.

After the train left the city Hamuko noticed that there was a piece of paper sticking out of the handbag that Mitsuru had given her. Putting it on her lap, she opened the handbag, which contained an envelope, a picture, and a letter. Picking up the letter she began to read it.

_Hamuko,_

_I am sure the journey that you are now embarking on will not be an easy one. Of course, life's journeys rarely ever are. However, I hope that the contents of this handbag will make the journey a little easier for you. The picture that is included is that of your brother Minato and his closest friends, myself included. Though his life's journey ended much too soon, very few people were unchanged by it. Somehow he seemed to make everyone's life a little bit better. Strange as it may seem, I can see the faintest bit of that quality in you. I expect great things from you._

_On a less serious note, the envelope contains a small amount of money for you to start with. After all, a girl can't only wear a school uniform everywhere she goes right?_

_Best wishes, Mitsuru Kirijo_

Hamuko smiled a little bit as she finished reading the letter. It was comforting to know that her brother was so well-liked, and it seemed that she had some pretty big shoes to fill. Folding up the letter, she put it back into the handbag and retrieved the picture. She instantly recognized her brother standing in the center of the picture; a bit older than her memory had held of course, but there was no doubt to her that it was him. On either side of him stood various students that must have been his friends, Mitsuru included, although a few did stick out to her. One was boy who was much younger than the others, the other was, well, a dog. _He certainly kept some strange company_, she thought. _Still, they all seem happy, and that's what counts._

Putting the picture away, Hamuko took the envelope out and opened it. Her eyes widened when she saw a large amount of 10,000 yen bills inside. Not wanting to attract attention to herself, she quietly counted them all up, and was shocked to discover that the 'small amount' that Mitsuru had given her was actually 500,000 yen. _I wonder what she considers to be a lot...Still, it's more than enough for a few outfits._ She quickly put the envelope back into her handbag.

Looking at her train ticket, Hamuko noted that the arrival time was three hours away. _I suppose a quick nap would be okay_, she thought. After tucking away the handbag between the train and herself she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

**?**

The sound of opera music woke Hamuko from her sleep, but upon awakening she saw that she was no longer inside the train. Instead, it appeared to be interior of a vehicle, most likely a limousine. Everything inside was blue in color, from the seats to the lighting. It was then that Hamuko noticed she was not alone. Staring at her from the opposite side of the vehicle was older gentleman with a peculiarly long nose and bugged-out, bloodshot eyes dressed in a black suit. Next to him was an adult blonde woman dressed in a blue dress, holding a book of some sort.

"Ah, it seems we have another guest," said the man. "And so soon after we had just welcomed another guest. How very interesting..."

"Um, who are you exactly?" asked Hamuko. "And where am I?"

"My name is Igor," said the man after a slight chuckle. "This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter... It is a room that only those who are bound by a contract may enter..."

"A contract?" None of this made any sense to Hamuko. "But I didn't sign anything like that."

"Ah, it may be that such a fate awaits you in the near future," replied Igor. "Now then, why don't you introduce yourself?"

"..." Hamuko pondered telling the man her name. Everything that was going on was so bizarre that it must be a dream. _No harm in playing along right?_ "Hamuko Arisato."

"Arisato..." trailed Igor. "Hmm, I see. Perhaps this was not just a chance encounter after all. Shall we take a look at your future?" He gestured at the small card table in front of him.

Hamuko shrugged. It's just a dream, right? "Okay."

A deck of somewhat large cards materialized above the card table. "I wonder what you think about fortune-telling. Each reading is done with the same cards, yet the result is always different," said Igor with another chuckle. "Kind of like life itself, right?"

Hamuko watched as the cards positioned themselves onto the table with a wave of Igor's hand. Once they had settled into position, Igor flipped the card nearest to him.

"Hmm, Death in the upright position..."

"Whoa, whoa, Death?" gasped Hamuko. "I'm going to die?"

Igor gave another chuckle before answering. "Everyone dies of course. However, that is not what this card is indicating. It means that a long cycle of your life has ended, and that you will be undergoing a change in your life."

"..." That was frightfully accurate to Hamuko. After all she had just woken up from a decade long coma, and was about to begin a new life in a new place.

"Next we have..." Igor flipped the card to the right of the Death card. "The Tower, in the upright position. This represents the immediate future. It appears a catastrophe is imminent. Just like the guest we just had...Very interesting."

_So someone else also had this same dream just before I did?_ Hamuko wondered as she watched Igor flip the next card. _Is that even possible?_

"The card indicating the future beyond that is...The Star in the upright position." said Igor as he stroked his chin in a thoughtful manner. "This card represents faith, optimism, and trust. Very interesting."

"So what does it mean?" asked Hamuko, scratching her head.

"It seems you will encounter a great misfortune at your destination, and you will be called upon to assist in some way afterward," explained Igor. "In the coming days you will enter a contract of some sort, after which you will return here. The coming year is a turning point in your destiny. If you choose to ignore those who call out for your help, your future may be forever lost. My duty is to provide assistance to our guests to insure that does not happen." Waving his hand over the table, Igor made the cards disappear.

"Ah, before I forget, allow me to introduce my assistant to you. This is Margaret. She is a resident of this place, like myself."

"I am Margaret," said the woman in a somewhat cold fashion. "I am here to accompany you through your journey."

"I'm still not sure I understand any of this," said Hamuko. "It's confusing..."

"We shall attend to the details another time," replied Igor. "Until then, farewell..."

After he had spoken, the room began to dim, and everything became black.

**Afternoon- Aboard the train**

Hamuko awoke with slight jolt. Upon seeing that she was back on the train, she let out a sigh of relief. _What was that? _she wondered as she looked outside the window. _Such a weird dream..._


	3. Chapter 3

**Afternoon – Aboard the train**

It had been an hour since Hamuko had awoken from her bizarre dream, and yet it still had not left her mind. Dreams weren't supposed to be real, but the fortune-telling that the man named Igor had performed seemed like something she simply couldn't ignore. _Something bad will happen in Inaba when I get there?_ Hamuko pondered the thought as she looked outside the window at mountain scenery. _What's more, I'm supposed to help? No, no, Hamuko, it was just a dream. It wasn't real. Everyone told me that Inaba was one of the most quiet and peaceful places out there. You're just being paranoid, that's all._

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. After slowly exhaling, she opened them again. Looking back at her train ticket, then at her watch, she noticed that it would still be awhile before she would reach Inaba, perhaps an hour or so left. Looking around, she noticed that there wasn't a great deal of passengers in her train car either; not a strange thing considering that Inaba was supposed to be an out of the way place.

The few passengers she did see didn't appear out of the ordinary either, with the exception of a silver-haired teenage boy who was wearing a school uniform. Hamuko wasn't sure if it was that of Yasogami High's as she had not seen the male uniform version. Although she briefly considered making an attempt to talk to him, Hamuko quickly decided against it. The prospect of talking to a boy her age that she didn't know was scary enough, and she knew that she lacked the courage to go through with it anyway. Instead she decided to retrieve the music player and headphones from the briefcase that Mitsuru had given her, being extra careful to make sure no one saw the fake gun that was inside.

After putting the headphones on she looked at the device itself, trying to figure out how it worked. Fortunately the ON button was in clear sight, as were the various other functions that was typical of most music players. Still, it confused her as to how it would be possible to listen to any music without a CD. Deciding to try it out anyway, she pressed the play button.

_Fear's awake_

_Anger beats loud_

_Face reality_

_Never be charity_

_The enemy you're fighting_

_Covers whole society_

The music was rather loud, but the pop-style beat was rather enjoyable to her. Apparently Minato had good taste in music. Still, the question of where the music was actually stored on the device was continuing to perplex her. _Oh forget it, I'll figure it out later. I guess some things changed since ten years ago, after all._ She leaned over to the window and looked out at the mountainous countryside scenery as it passed by her while she continued to listen to the music.

Twenty minutes later...

Hamuko was still listening to her brother's music when she saw that some of the passengers in the train begin to stand up. Taking her headphones off, she heard an announcement being played.

-_will arrive at the Yasogami terminal in a few minutes. Passengers headed for Inaba City and Yasoinaba Station please go to the other side of the platform. I repeat-_

Hamuko stood up and retrieved her briefcase and handbag. _That's right, Mitsuru-san told me that I had to get on a second train for the final part of the trip. Better be sure I don't get on the wrong one..._

After the train came to a stop at the terminal and she had gotten off, Hamuko noticed that the silver-haired boy had also left the train and was heading towards the same train that she was. _I guess he's heading to Inaba too..._ After getting on the train that was indeed bound for for her destination, she took a seat a few rows behind the boy. Again she considered talking to him, but once again her courage failed her and so she simply leaned back in her seat and put her headphones back on and went back to listening to music as she waited for the last part of her trip to Inaba to begin...

**Afternoon – Yasoinaba Station**

_Yasoinaba. Yasoinaba._

The announcement over the train had meant that Hamuko's journey to Inaba had finally ended. As the train slowed to a stop, the butterflies in her stomach began to fly just a bit faster.

_My new life begins as soon as I leave this train. s_he thought as she stood up and gathered her briefcase and handbag._ You can do this, Hamuko, no prob! _She watched the silver-haired boy leave the train before slowly beginning to leave the train herself.

As she departed the train, she remembered that she was supposed to meet with someone named Takao. Only problem was that she had no idea what he was supposed to look like. Hopefully, he would know who she is...

As Hamuko tentatively walked out of the station exit, she noticed that the silver-haired boy was talking to a man with a jacket slung over his shoulder and a small girl next to the stairs in the parking lot . _Hmm, so that's probably not Takao so.._

"Hamuko-chaaaaaaaan!"

A voice on the opposite side snapped Hamuko's attention to the source. She saw a gray-haired older gentleman with glasses dressed in a suit waving at her. Standing next to him was a brunette young woman in a much more casual attire.

_Mitsuru-san didn't mention anything about a lady..._ Hamuko thought as she hesitantly approached the pair.

"Welcome to Inaba, Hamuko-chan," said the man as Hamuko walked up to him. "I'm Takao Matsuda. Mitsuru's told me all about you."

"Um, i-its nice to meet you Takao-san," said Hamuko nervously as she bowed.

"Hey now, no need to be all scaredy cat-like," chuckled the woman. "We ain't gunna eat ya or anything!"

Takao looked at the woman and sighed. "Please, Ayame, where are your manners?" He looked back to Hamuko. "Er, this is my granddaughter Ayame. She's visiting Inaba for awhile on job-related matters, so she will be staying with us."

"Ayame Kawatake," said the woman as she gave Hamuko a wink and a thumbs up. "Just call me Iris though, I prefer that name as it's my pen name that I use for work."

"Iris-san then?" asked Hamuko. It was a rather unusual name to want to be called, at least to her it was.

"Just Iris," said the woman as she adjusted the sunglasses on her head. "I don't really like all that formal stuff."

"Ayame is a reporter," explained Takao as he shook his head. "Although I think paparazzi is a more accurate term..."

"Hey, that's mean gramps!" fumed Iris. "Anyway, now that she's here, shouldn't we get her to the house? I got stuff to do, ya know."

Takao nodded. "I suppose we should. Come, Hamuko-chan, the car is this way."

Hamuko nodded and followed the pair to a nearby white car. Takao opened the back door for Hamuko and she got in, while Iris occupied the front passenger seat. _Well, Takao-san seems nice enough_, thought Hamuko as Takao started the car and began to drive out of the parking lot. _Iris is a little bit on the wild side, but she seems pretty cool._

"Aw shoot!" cried Iris as they had just pulled out of the parking lot. "Gramps, can you swing by the gas station? The batteries in my camera about about to die..." She held up the camera that was around her neck to emphasize the point.

Takao thought for a moment. "I suppose we could. The car does needs gas now that I think about it."

A minute later Takao pulled up to a small gas station called Moel. As they were pulling in, Hamuko noticed the silver-haired boy again, this time talking with the station attendant, who was putting gas into the vehicle they were standing next to. _I'm seeing a lot of him today..._

"I won't take too long guys!" said Iris as she walked toward the convenience store.

Hamuko watched as the station attendant finished his task and then as the boy entered the vehicle and left with the girl and man she had seen him with earlier.

"Sorry about the wait," said the station attendant. "What do you need?"

"Fill it up if you don't mind young man," said Takao with a smile. "Regular will do."

"Sure thing!" said the attendant. As he began the task he looked at Hamuko. "Hmm, I don't think I've seen you around before..."

"Oh, she just moved here from one of the cities," explained Takao.

"Is that so?" mused the attendant. "The guy that was just here a second ago also just moved here from the city. Small world huh?"

"I guess so," agreed Hamuko as she looked around.

"Not a whole lot here is there?" asked the attendant. "Ah, but don't worry, you'll make friends soon enough here, so I'm sure you won't be bored."

"He's right about that," chuckled Takao. "This town is small, but there are a lot kids your age too."

"You could also get a part-time job if you really get bored," added the attendant as he finished filling up the tank. "This place is hiring, you know; we don't care if you're a student, so give it some thought okay?" He extended his hand towards Hamuko.

_A handshake? _Hamuko tilted her head. That particular type of greeting was rather rare, but she dismissed the thought. _He's just being nice..._ She smiled and shook the attendant's hand. As she did she couldn't help but notice the smile on the attendant's face. It was a rather cold and satisfied looking smile to her.

"Hey guys, I'm back," said Iris as she walked back to the car.

"Ah good timing," said Takao as he paid the attendant. "We're just finishing up here."

"Thank you very much!" said the attendant as another car pulled up. "Well, off to the next customer!"

Hamuko watched as he ran off to tend to the customer. A moment later she suddenly felt dizzy and took a step back.

"Hey girl, you okay?" asked Iris as she put a hand on Hamuko's shoulder.

"Y-yeah, just a bit of a dizzy spell," said Hamuko as her vision returned to normal. "Maybe I'm getting tired or something."

"Probably just the gasoline fumes," sighed Iris. "Anyway, let's get you home."

Hamuko nodded and entered the car. _What was that all about?_

**Evening – Matsuda Residence**

"Well, here we are!" announced Iris as the car pulled up to a rather large house. "Not bad huh?"

"Y-yeah," said Hamuko as she looked up at the house. _Three stories! Wow!_

"Mitsuru would use this house sometimes when she went on vacation," explained Takao as everyone exited the car. "Of course, now that she's taking over the Kirijo Group, I don't think she'll be visiting for awhile."

"Blah, she's got a bunch of houses everywhere in Japan," said Iris as she began walking away towards the roadway. "Anyway, I'm off to get some leads! I'll be back later tonight!"

Takao sighed as he watched her walk away. "She could have at least eaten dinner with us... Oh, well let's go inside, shall we?"

Hamuko nodded and followed Takao inside.

"Your room is on the second floor, all the way on the right," explained Takao. "Go ahead and take a look."

"Okay," replied Hamuko, walking to the set of stairs the led to the second floor. _All the way to the right huh? Okay, this should be it...Wow!"_

The room that she would be staying in much, much larger than she had expected. It was nearly twice as big as her hospital room! _Mitsuru-san really did go all-out for me huh?_

Setting her briefcase on the desk that overlooked the outside she went over to the futon and laid down on it. _Another dizzy spell... What's going on?_ She put her hand on top of her her forehead. _Maybe I'll just close my eyes for a little while..._ Before she knew it, she had lost consciousness.


	4. Chapter 4

**?**

Hamuko awoke to find herself in an unfamiliar area filled with the thickest amount of fog she had ever seen. _What's going on? Another dream?_ She looked around but couldn't see anything past a few inches in front of her due to the fog. Looking at the ground she saw that the surface was comprised entirely of big red blocks spaced a few inches apart. Looking back, she saw that there was a giant wall that seemed to go on forever, meaning forward was the only way to go.

After taking a hesitant step forward she discovered the blocks were solidly in place, despite looking like they might have been floating. _Okay girl, it's just a dream, like the last time. Let's see where this goes..._

The pathway was quite narrow and turned sharply left or right in a few cases, but it wasn't anything she couldn't navigate. A minute after she had begun walking, Hamuko heard a feminine voice calling out to her from somewhere ahead.

"What is it that you seek?"

"Hey, who are you?" shouted Hamuko as she quickened her pace. "What's going on?"

"Do you seek the truth?" the voice called. "Or something else?"

"I-I don't know!" answered Hamuko as she tried to find the source of the voice.

She then heard laughter. "Come and find me, so that perhaps you can find out..."

"Oh, I'll find you all right," grumbled Hamuko as she began jogging forward. "Haunting me in my own dream. I'll show yo-" Before she could finish her sentence she suddenly crashed into a hard surface and fell to her knees. "Huh?"

As she rubbed her head, she noticed the fog had cleared a bit and that she had ran straight into a black and white square door. _Wow, I'm glad no one saw that..._ she thought as she reached out at the door. To her surprise, the door began to rotate and open from the center until completely vanishing. When it disappeared, she could feel the presence of the voice's owner on the other side. Gathering up her courage she stepped through the door.

As soon as she did, the door door closed behind her and she felt a presence staring at her from nearby, but couldn't see anyone due to the fog.

"So, you decided to chase me after all," said the voice from, all places, right in front of her. At least it seemed that way, since she still couldn't see anyone.

"Y-yeah, that's right!" said Hamuko in an awful attempt to sound intimidating. "You'll be sorry when I catch you!"

She heard laughter. "Is that so? Try all you like then. Here, I'll even give you this."

A long weapon suddenly appeared in Hamuko's hands, one that she recognized from her childhood. _This is a...naginata? I remember seeing this being used in a lot of the Featherman episodes I used to __watch back then. I think I hold it like this..._ She held the weapon as one would hold a hockey stick, with the blade near the ground and behind her. For some odd reason it felt very familiar to her.

"Alright here I come!" said Hamuko as she darted in the general direction of the voice and and delivered an upward swing; only to hit...nothing. In fact she was so overzealous in the attempt that she wound up spinning in a complete 360 and fell onto the ground.

"It seems you can't see anything after all," chuckled the voice, this time from behind her.

Hamuko let out a frustrated growl and stood back up and rushed at the voice yet again, delivering a downward swing that hit nothing but the ground.

"What a joke!" scoffed the voice. "It seems it is not 'truth' that you were after to begin with. It seems it was the other one who was..."

"You're not making any sense!" said Hamuko as she looked around for the source of the voice. "What are you talking about?"

"Hmm, but your persistence is intriguing," answered the voice. "Perhaps you will be of interest to me, but you will only become lost in the fog in the end. Begone!"

Suddenly the fog grew even thicker, and Hamuko felt herself losing consciousness...

**Evening - Matsuda Residence**

"Hey, get up sleepy head! It's not that late yet!"

Hamuko awoke to the sound of Iris' voice, as well as being gently shaken by her.

"Whew, finally!" said Iris as Hamuko slowly sat up from her futon. "You don't wanna miss dinner right?"

"Um, I thought you were going out for work?" asked Hamuko as she noticed that Iris' shoulder-length hair was oddly damp looking. "Or are you finished?"

Iris shook her head. "Nah, I was about to head to the Amagi Inn when it suddenly started raining pretty heavily. Sucks, because I was halfway there and I didn't have my umbrella! It still hasn't let up either." Confirming this was the sound of rain hitting the roof of the house.

"Alright, enough blabbing, your food's gunna get cold- mine too," said Iris as she helped Hamuko off of the futon. "Gramps made the usual, which is ramen. Hope you don't mind, because that's all he can cook without burning something!" She gave a small chuckle as the pair headed down the stairs.

Hamuko followed Iris down the stairs and into the living room where two bowls of ramen were sitting on a table. Takao was in the next room over, writing something in a notebook.

"Um, is Takao-san not eating?" asked Hamuko as she sat down on one of the pillows on the floor.

"Nah, he eats by himself," explained Iris as she sat down and turned on the nearby TV. "That's just how he is; well, as far as I can remember at least."

"Oh..." Unable to come up with anything else to say, Hamuko picked up the set of chopsticks next to her bowl and began to eat. A few minutes of silence passed by before Iris decided to make an attempt at conversation.

"So Hamuko, I take it you're going to attending Yasogami High?"

Hamuko nodded. "That's what Mitsuru-san told me. I start tomorrow."

"She told ya right," said Iris as she slurped a few noodles that were dangling out of her mouth. She pointed her chopsticks at Hamuko. "That uniform you're wearing is Yasogami High's; I would know, I graduated from there after all."

"Oh, really?" asked Hamuko. "I didn't know..."

"Yep!" replied Iris. "You'll like it there, trust me."

_I hope so_, Hamuko thought as she watched a commercial on the TV featuring a teenager in a bikini holding up some type of diet drink. When the commercial ended a news program began.

"And now for the seven o'clock evening news. Our top story today is the ongoing love triangle that city council secretary Taro Nametame is allegedly involved in..."

"Blah, blah, blah," sighed Iris as she continued to eat her food. "Same junk we've heard for the past week. Still nothing new..."

"Oh, aren't you a reporter too, Iris?" asked Hamuko.

"That's right," answered Iris, her mouth full of noodles. "I'm actually working on the same story that's being reported right now."

"Oh, I see," said Hamuko after eating a few more noodles. "You just don't seem like one to me though."

"Huh? What makes you say that?"

Hamuko pointed at the television with her chopsticks. "I kind of imagine reporters being like the ones on the TV right now, you know?"

Iris burst out laughing,. "Ahahaha, that's some funny stuff kid! Those guys aren't real reporters. They're more like just a bunch of actors that the producers pretty up and have read a script. The real ones, like me, go out and find the stories that those guys talk about on the TV."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean anything bad by that," said Hamuko. She mentally facepalmed. _Not the best way to make impressions Hamuko..._

"Ah, don't worry about it; lotta people your age think the same thing," replied Iris. "I'm used to it. Anyway, it's your turn turn to tell me some stuff about you. From what I hear from Gramps, you're a survivor of the incident on Tatsumi Port Island back in '99."

Hamuko nodded as she put her chopsticks down. "Yes, that's right. Some kind of explosion I think. I lost my parents because of it..."

"You don't say?" mused Iris. "Sorry to hear that."

An awkward silence filled the room as the news program cut to a commercial, but the silence was short lived as a lively commercial began playing.

"Every day's great at your Junes~!"

The jingle was quite catchy sounding to Hamuko. "Say Iris, what's Junes?"

"Oh,that's a department store chain that's practically taking over Japan," explained Iris. "They just built one here in Inaba recently, maybe a year ago I think. It's literally the biggest attraction this town has other than the Amagi Inn. You can't go very far without hearing some little kid singing that jingle, I kid you not."

Hamuko nodded. _Sounds like the place to go when I decide to buy some new clothes._

For the next hour Iris and Hamuko continued to watch TV and talk about various subjects while Takao took their empty bowls and washed them.

"Hmm, 8:30," said Iris as she looked at the grandfather clock that was standing near the TV. "I think I'll turn in early for the day."

"You should probably do the same Hamuko-chan," suggested Takao. "You've got a big day tomorrow after all."

Hamuko nodded and stood up. "I think I'll do that, Takao-san."

"Night, Gramps," said Iris as she began ascending the stairs. "Oh, yeah! I'll show you how to get to Yasogami High tomorrow, Hamuko, so don't leave without me, okay?"

"Right," answered Hamuko as she followed Iris up the stairs. She watched as Iris gave her a wave and entered her room before heading for her own room. She headed over to her futon and laid down on it. _Tomorrow I'll be attending Yasogami High, _Hamuko thought as she closed her eyes._ I wonder if I'll be able to fit in? I sure hope so..._

**March 12th Morning – Matsuda Residence**

Hamuko awoke to the sound of a nearby alarm clock, thankful that she did not have any bizarre dreams that night. Leaving her room, she entered the adjacent bathroom to wash her face. The cold water was enough to shock what little sleepiness was left in her. After drying her face off she looked at herself in the mirror. _Hmm, I don't have any makeup... Looks like I'll add that to my list of things to get..._ She was about to walk away when she took a longer look at her hair and frowned. It was currently straight down to her shoulders, and for some reason it didn't look good to her.

Looking to her left, she spotted a container with a multitude of hairpins. _They must be Iris'... I hope __she won't mind._ She then teased her hair up and used six of the hairpins on the left side of her hair to keep it in place. Taking a second look in the mirror, she noticed that in her initial attempt she messed up the placement of the first four hairpins, causing them to form a pair of 'X',s while the other two went straight up and down. _XXII, that's.. 22 in roman numerals if I remember right. For some reason that number sticks out to me. Maybe I'll just keep it as it is then._ Taking a final look in the mirror, she headed downstairs, where Iris was standing in the kitchen, drinking some coffee out a mug.

"Hey, nice hair!" commented Iris as she inspected Hamuko's new style. "Looks good!" She then pointed at a plate on the counter that contained a pair of fried eggs and some toast. "That's yours by the way. Oh, and don't worry, I made it, so eat up!"

Hamuko thanked Iris and the entire contents of the plate. It actually wasn't bad, which surprised her because Iris did not look like the type that could cook. When she was done, Hamuko looked around before asking, "Is Takao-san not here?"

"Nah, Gramps is doing some stuff in town,' explained Iris as she finished her coffee and grabbed a nearby notepad. "Alright then, time to go. It's still raining so grab an umbrella. There's some by the door you can choose from."

Hamuko followed Iris to the front door and watched her take an umbrella before selecting a red one for herself.

Once outside, she noticed the rain was still coming down as Iris had said, but not very hard.

"Okay getting to Yasogami High is pretty easy from here," said Iris as the two left the driveway and began walking down a sidewalk that adjacent to the road. "It's literally a straight shot from here."

Hamuko nodded and followed Iris in silence. After five minutes of walking, Iris stopped at a crosswalk section.

"If you go left from here, you'll wind up at the Amagi Inn," Iris explained. "Of course, there's no need to do that, since we just keep going straight."

"Okay," said Hamuko as she looked around. She noted that there were a few students dressed in the same uniform that she was wearing heading in the direction that Iris had told her. She and Iris were about to continue walking when suddenly the two of them heard someone shouting, "Iriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiissss!"

"Huh?" They turned to see a pair of girls running towards them from the direction of the Amagi Inn walkway that Iris had pointed out. One of them, a girl with dark blonde hair and wearing a green jacket of some sort over her uniform was leading another girl with black hair who was wearing a red jacket over hers by the hand.

"Ch-Chie, stop running so fast," gasped the girl with the red jacket when the two reached Iris and Hamuko. "I almost lost my umbrella, plus my heart's going to explode any second now!"

"Oh come on Yukiko, you need the exercise anyway!"" teased the other girl who didn't appear winded at all. "Besides, look who it is!"

Iris smiled and waved at the two girls. "Well, well, if it isn't Chie and Yukiko!"

"Oh, w-wow it really is Ayame-san," said the black-haired girl as she struggled to catch her breath.

"Come on Yukiko, how many times have I told you not to call me that?" sighed Iris.

"Sorry, it's just a force of habit," said the black-haired girl. "You know how it is, right?"

Iris rolled her eyes. "Still haven't changed I see. Well that's not a bad thing I guess."

"You know these two Iris?" asked Hamuko.

Iris nodded. "Sure do! Just about everyone in town does, actually. The spunky girl in the green jacket there is Chie Satonaka, the self-styled martial artist extraordinaire. And that-" she pointed at the black-haired girl with the red headband, "Is none other than Yukiko Amagi, heir of the Amagi Inn."

"W-wait that's not quite right," mumbled Yukiko, looking away.

"Hey Iris, who is she?" asked Chie as she pointed at Hamuko. "I don't think I've ever seen her around before."

"This is Hamuko Arisato," replied Iris as she gently shoved Hamuko in front of her.

"Um, h-hi," said Hamuko as she looked at the ground. "It's nice to, um, meet you."

"She's a transfer student from the city," explained Iris. "And she's your senpai. So be nice to her okay?"

"From the city? Really?" asked Chie. "Neat!"

"Yep!" Iris paused for a moment and looked in the direction of the Amagi Inn. "Say, can you girls do me a favor and take Hamuko with you to school? There's some stuff I have to do, and with you guys, she'll at least have a guide once she gets there."

"Sure thing!" said Chie, turning to Hamuko. "Don't worry Hamuko-senpai, we'll help you out!"

"Um, Ayame-san, you're not going to the Inn are you?" asked Yukiko.

"May~be," chirped Iris. "I'm a reporter after all, Yuki-chan."

"..." Yukiko went silent for a moment. "Well, since it's you I guess it'll be okay. Just don't bother the workers too much okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, don't worry," sighed Iris as she waved at the girls and began walking towards the Amagi Inn. "Good luck Hamuko!"

Hamuko waved goodbye as Iris left her to the two girls. "Iris seems pretty popular around here..."

"Oh, you bet, senpai," said Chie as she turned to Hamuko. "She's probably one of the most well-known people that ever came out of this town!"

Yukiko nodded as the trio continued to head to school. "That's right. She's won a lot of awards for some of the stories she's done, plus a few from some of her photographs she's taken."

"Of course she's usually busy running around Japan, so we don't see her all that often," added Chie. "I think it's been two years since we last saw her."

"Huh, she never told me any of this," trailed Hamuko.

"So how do you know her Hamuko-senpai?" asked Yukiko. "Are you a relative of hers?"

Hamuko shook her head. "N-no, I'm just staying at her house, that's all."

"Oh, with Takao-san!" said Yukiko. "That's means you're living next door to me!"

"Well, senpai, it looks like we'll be seeing a lot of each other this year then," said Chie as she gave Hamuko a smile. "That's cool with you right?"

"Sure!" said Hamuko. _Well, this is a good start at least. Maybe things won't be so bad after all..._

**Morning – Yasogami High**

"Well, here we are senpai," said Chie. "Yasogami High!"

Hamuko looked up past the open gates at the school building. It seemed like a typical high school to her, with many students heading into the building.

"Okay, even though it's the first day of school for all of us," said Chie as they walked inside the school. "Your name probably won't be on the Homeroom assignment list since you just transferred, so you'll need to go to the Faculty Office to find out where to go."

"It's right over there," added Yukiko as she pointed to a door that was not very far down the hallway. "Um, you'll be okay from here right?"

"I think so," trailed Hamuko as she looked in the direction that Yukiko was pointing.

"You'll be fiiiiine senpai," said Chie. "Don't sweat it! Oh, and we'll wait for you once school's out too, so don't leave without us, got it?"

"O-okay," said Hamuko as she nervously began to head toward the faculty office. She waved goodbye to Chie and Yukiko before heading off.

Even though the Faculty Office was just a few yards down the hall, it felt like miles to Hamuko due to her increasing nervousness. _It'll be okay, Hamuko, _she thought as she stood in front of the Office door. _Just knock and enter; what could go wrong?_


	5. Chapter 5

Hamuko stared at the door to the Faculty Office for a full minute before finally holding her breath and knocking on it three times. A few seconds later the door opened and she found herself facing a middle aged man with large protruding front teeth and wearing a blue and white pinstriped suit with a sour look on his face.

"Waddaya want kid? I gotta get to my class soon."

"I, uh, um," Hamuko tried to say what it was she had come for, but the man's increasingly irritated look on his face was shattering what remained of her already fragile courage.

The look on the man's face became more and more irritated as Hamuko failed to answer his question.

"Come on already, spit it out kid, I ain't got all day!"

"Oh, I'm sorry," said Hamuko. "I need my, um, homeroom assignment."

The teacher scratched his head. "That oughta be posted outside along with everyone elses."

"But I just transferred here, and I was told I was supposed to come here," said Hamuko.

The man sighed. "Another transfer student? Has this school become a dumping ground for city kids all of a sudden? Ugh, fine tell me your name and year and hurry up about it!"

"R-right," said Hamuko, thankful that the man was at least obliging her. "I'm Hamuko Arisato. Third year."

"Third year eh?" the teacher scratched his chin. "Good! That means I ain't gotta deal with your ass at least. Let's see now, Arisato...Arisato... Ah, that's right!"

"?" Hamuko gave the teacher a confused look.

"We just got a new teacher from the city," explained the man. "Said she wanted to have you in her class. And don't ask why, because I don't know! I guess you city types like to stick together or something." Turning around he yelled out, "Hey, Toriumi! Get over here, that girl you wanted in your class is here!"

Hamuko could hear a loud sigh coming from within the Faculty Office followed by, "Coming Mr. Morooka..." A few seconds later a woman wearing a peach colored pantsuit appeared next to Morooka.

"There she is," grumbled Morooka as he turned around and shoved his hands in his pockets. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have work to do..."

The other teacher shook her head as Morooka left and then looked back at Hamuko. "I'm sorry about that. He doesn't seem to like people that aren't from Inaba. Goodness knows he doesn't like me."

"It sounded like it," agreed Hamuko.

"Alright then, let's see if we can't start this over then," said the teacher. "I'm Ms. Toriumi, and if what Mr. Morooka said was true then you must be Hamuko Ari...sato?"

There was something strange about the way Ms. Toriumi paused as she spoke Hamuko's last name to the girl, but she decided to simply nod and smile.

"Yes, that's right."

"I see," Ms. Toriumi looked at the ground for a moment before looking back at Hamuko with a smile. "Well then, that means I'll be your homeroom teacher, Hamuko. I'm about to head to class myself, so you can just follow me, okay?"

Hamuko nodded and watched as Ms. Toriumi went back inside the Faculty Office. A minute later she returned with a folder.

"Okay then, this way Hamuko," said Ms. Toriumi. "I'm pretty sure everyone else is in class by now, so that will make it easier to introduce you to the others; you are the new girl after all, even if it is the first day of school."

Hamuko silently followed Ms. Toriumi to the top floor, where all the third years classes were held.

"Here we are, room 301," said Ms. Toriumi. "Are you ready?"

"I guess so..." answered Hamuko. Of course she was still nervous, but she wanted to get this over with as soon as she could. She followed Ms. Toriumi into the classroom and noticed that everyone else was already inside, just as her teacher had said.

"Alright class, settle down. I'm Ms. Toriumi, your Composition as well as homeroom teacher for the year." As soon as she had finished speaking, the entire class let out a collective sigh.

"Oh, thank god," said one of the students. "We were afraid we'd get King Moron!"

"Yeah, no kidding," said another.

"King Moron?" asked Ms. Toriumi.

"Oh yeah, you're the new teacher so you wouldn't know," answered another student. "That's the name we gave to Mr. Morooka."

"It certainly seems fitting enough..." trailed Ms. Toriumi, drawing a few chuckles from the classroom. "But enough about that. We have a transfer student from the city joining us today. Go on and introduce yourself."

"I'm Hamuko Arisato. Um, it's nice to meet you all," she said with a bow.

"Alright then, go sit over there next to...uh, what's your name?" asked Ms. Toriumi as she pointed to a female student with long curly gray-brown hair that was sitting next to an empty desk.

"Saki," said the student. "Saki Konishi."

"Right then, next to Saki."

Hamuko quickly took the indicated seat, thankful that her introduction ordeal was over with.

"So, you're new here huh?" asked Saki after Hamuko had sat down.

"Yeah," replied Hamuko as Ms. Toriumi began to take attendance. "It's the first time I've ever left my hometown so I'm not really used to being the new girl."

Saki chuckled. "Well, don't worry. Inaba is easy to get used to, and most of us are friendly enough."

"That's what I've heard," agreed Hamuko.

"Well, you're the 'new girl from the city', so expect a little bit of attention from everyone for awhile," explained Saki. "We don't get many transfer students after all."

Being the center of attention wasn't exactly what Hamuko had in mind as far as her school life was concerned but it looked like that's what she was going to have to deal with.

**After School**

The remainder of the school day basically consisted of the other teachers arriving during their time to do nothing more than tell their students what subject they would be teaching and what was to be expected. Even though there was the occasional student that would come up to talk to her briefly, Hamuko could sum up the day with a single word. Boring. The only unusual thing to happen was that Saki had left early for some reason after lunchtime.

"Hmm, I think that about covers what needs to be said for the day," said Ms. Toriumi. "The normal lessons and lectures will start tomorrow. You are all dis-" Suddenly the school intercom activated, interrupting her.

"_Attention all teachers. Please report immediately to the Faculty Office for a brief staff meeting. All students must return to their classrooms and are not to leave the school until further notice."_

"?" Ms. Toriumi scratched her head. "This doesn't seem normal. Well, you all heard the announcement; stay here until you're told otherwise." She then walked out of the classroom.

A few seconds after she had left, Hamuko could hear what sounded like sirens going off somewhere in town.

"I wonder if something happened," said a student. "Those sirens don't sound very far away."

"Eh, even so, this fog would make it impossible to see anything from here..."

"Yeah that's true. Funny how it gets foggy after it rains nowadays."

Hamuko sighed and remained in her seat as she listened to the other students gossip about various things. Ten minutes later the intercom came back on.

"_Attention all students. There has been an incident inside the school district. Police officers have been __dispatched around the school zone. Please leave quickly or contact your parents or guardians as soon as possible, and quickly leave the school grounds. Do not disturb the police officers. Head directly home." _The announcement repeated one more time.

"Whoa something happened?" said a student. "Let's go see!"

"Yeah!" agreed another student.

_Didn't the announcement just say not to do that? _Wondered Hamuko as she got up from her seat. _Well, it doesn't matter I guess. I guess I'll head to the school gates and wait for Chie and Yukiko._

As it turned out, she only had to go the main entrance of the school before running into the two girls. As she approached them, she noticed they weren't alone. The silver-haired boy that was on the train with her was standing with them. Now the she had a better look at him she noticed he wore his school jacket open and his shirt untucked. It was more of a casual look than anything else.

"Hey senpai, over here!" waved Chie as Hamuko walked over to them. "Guess what? It looks like you're not the only transfer student we got today."

The boy nodded. "That's right. I'm Souji Seta."

"Oh, hi," said Hamuko. "I'm, uh, Hamuko Arisato."

Souji tilted his head. "That's funny. You look kind of familiar."

"Oh, um, I think we rode on the same train yesterday," explained Hamuko. "A-at least I think it was you?"

"Yes, that's right," nodded Souji. "So you're new to this place as well huh?"

"Yeah..." trailed Hamuko. "It's a little intimidating to me still."

"Ah, don't worry about it senpai," said Chie as she gave Hamuko a thumbs up. "Yukiko and I will help you out whenever you need it, just ask! Right Yukiko?"

"Oh, yes!" said Yukiko as she looked around. "Um, shouldn't we get going? We don't want to make the teachers mad by hanging around here."

The others agreed and left the building. They had reached the school gate when a boy wearing a different school uniform approached them.

"Uh, hey Yuki," he said. "You wanna go hang out somewhere?"

Yukiko gave him a confused look. "Huh? Who are you?"

Hamuko saw that a few students had gathered nearby and were snickering about what was taking place.

"S-so are you coming or not?" asked the boy.

"No, I'm not going..." said Yukiko, clearly unnerved by this sudden request from someone she didn't even know.

"Fine!" fumed the student as he stormed off.

"What did he want with me?" asked Yukiko as she watched him leave.

Chie shot her a confused glance. "What do you mean, 'what did he want?' He was asking you out!"

Souji nodded. "Sounded like that to me too."

Yukiko clearly looked surprised. "Really?"

Chie sighed and shook her head. "You really had no idea? Whatever, it's good that you turned him down. The way he went about it was all wrong, and it was so creepy when he called you 'Yuki'."

The sound of a creaking bike turned Hamuko's attention toward another boy approaching them. "So, Yukiko-san, turned down another one huh? That's the same way you got me last year you know?"

"I don't remember that..." trailed Yukiko.

"Really?" asked the boy. "Then-"

"No," interrupted Yukiko.

"Ouch. So much for that," sighed the boy as he got on his bike. "Anyway, don't pick on the new guy too much!"

"We're just curious that's all!" fumed Chie as the boy rode away. "Besides senpai's new too."

"Um," Hamuko looked around and noticed the small group that had gathered behind them was growing. "Everyone's staring..."

"Yeah, let's go," agreed Chie. "It turns out that Souji here lives close to me, so we're pretty much all heading in the same direction. That's okay with you right senpai?"

"Oh, uh sure," said Hamuko as the four began to leave the school grounds.

After a few minutes of walking Chie gave a loud sigh.

"I can't believe Yosuke broke my DVD," she groaned. "It really was my favorite one..."

"?" That particular word was rather odd sounding to Hamuko. "What's a 'DVD'?"

The other three stopped and gave looks of disbelief at her. _Uh, oh._

"What do you mean, 'what's a DVD'?" asked Chie with a chuckle. "Everyone knows what that is! You been asleep for the past ten years or something?"

"Well, you see the thing is.." Hamuko hesitantly explained to the others about her coma, and the events that led up to her arrival in Inaba.

"Chie..." trailed Yukiko.

"I didn't know!" protested the girl, the pitch in her voice rising slightly. "I wouldn't knowingly joke about something like that! I'm really sorry senpai, I didn't mean anything bad, honestly!"

"It's okay," said Hamuko. "I know you were just joking."

"That would explain some things though senpai," mused Chie. "You didn't really seem like someone from the city. You have more of a deer-in-headlights type of personality. Oh, not that that's a bad thing or anything!"

"Well, compared to you, senpai, my reason for being here sounds pretty lame I guess," said Souji.

"Oh, that's right, you said your parents were working overseas right?" asked Yukiko.

"Really?" asked Hamuko. "It must be hard to be without them for so long."

Souji shook his head. "I'm used to it. I'm usually bouncing from school to school anyway. I'm only in Inaba until the end of the school year anyway."

"Oh, really?" asked Chie as they passed by a rice field. "Well that kinda sucks... Well hopefully Inaba will treat you well while you're here. Even though there's really nothing here..."

"Well, there's a few things, but Chie's pretty much spot on," said Yukiko.

"Well, there's the Amagi Inn," offered Chie. "Yukiko's family runs it! It's the pride of Inaba you know."

Yukiko shook her head. "No, it's...just an old inn."

"Come on, Yukiko, you know that's not true!" countered Chie. "It's been in a lot of magazines as a sort of hidden treasure. Or something like that. Even Iris did a story on it! A lot of people visit it, and it pretty much keeps Inaba going. It really is a great inn, and Yukiko's going to take over someday!"

"I think Chie's embellishing the truth there a little bit," sighed Yukiko.

The four continued to walk as Chie began to tease Yukiko about never dating anyone, and what Souji thought of her, who, of course, said she was cute. This brought more embarrassment to Yukiko, but before they could continue the conversation, they suddenly found themselves at a street corner that was filled with people.

"Hm? I wonder what's going on?" asked Yukiko as she looked around.

"Look! There's police everywhere," added Chie as she noted the officers and barricades.

"Could this be where the 'incident' happened?" asked Souji. "You know, the one announced at school?"

Hamuko remained silent as she looked around. _Is it a crime scene? What's going on?_ Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of someone calling to them.

"Hey, what are you guys doing here?" Hamuko looked to see Iris approaching the group.

"Oh, you're here too Ayame-san?" asked Yukiko. "Did...something happen here?"

Iris was hesitant to respond. "You could say that," she finally said. "From what I've gathered so far, a high school girl passed by here not too long ago and, well.."

"Don't leave us in suspense Iris," Chie urged. "Come on, tell us!"

Iris sighed and shook her head. "She, uh, found a dead body...hanging from a TV antennae..."

"What?" gasped Yukiko. "Are you serious?"

"Well, that's what I've heard and-" Iris was interrupted by yet another person approaching them, this time by what appeared to be a detective.

"Souji, what are you guys doing here?" he sighed. "We told the principal not to let you guys through here..."

"Huh, you know this guy Souji-kun?" asked Chie.

Souji nodded. "Yeah, he's my uncle, the one I'm staying with."

"Just as he said," said the man. "I'm Detective Dojima, his guardian. I don't want sound like a jerk or anything, but this is a crime scene, so you four really ought to go straight home."

"I'd do what he says," said Iris. "Let the police do their jobs. That being said..."

Dojima let out a sigh. "You know I can't give any official statements just yet Ayame. Not until all the facts are known, which they aren't."

"Ugh, don't be such a stick-in-the-mud, Ryo-kun," fumed Iris.

"Ryo-kun?" asked Chie as she looked at Souji, who in turn shrugged.

Dojima shot Iris an annoyed look. "How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that, Ayame, at least when I'm on the job?"

"Whoops, sorry," said Iris. "Anyway-" Once again she was interrupted by another detective, but this detective simply ran past them and began throwing up in a trash can. "?"

"Adachi!" shouted Dojima. "Stop acting like a rookie! You wanna get sent back to the Central Office?"

"S-sorry..." trailed Adachi, after wiping his mouth on his sleeve.

Dojima sighed and shook his head. "Go wash your face. We're going to look for more information. I'll tell you what I've found out later Ayame, just stay out of the way for now."

Iris nodded as the two detectives left. "Fair enough."

Chie looked at the others. "Do you guys think this is what the announcement at school was about?"

"Maybe," said Hamuko. "But a dead body hanging from an antennae?"

"Hey Yukiko, maybe we should just go home," said Chie. "We can go to Junes tomorrow right?"

Yukiko nodded. "Yeah, good idea."

"Well, my house is actually just ahead a little more," said Souji. "So, I guess I'll see you guys tomorrow then?"

"Sure thing Souji-kun!" said Chie as she waved goodbye to Souji. "We'll see you later!"

"Um, it was nice to meet you Souji-kun!" said Hamuko as he left.

Yukiko looked around at the scene once more. "C'mon guys let's go. This place is starting to give me the chills..."

"Careful on your way home girls!" said Iris as the three of them left. "I'll see you later tonight Hamuko!"

The walk back to Hamuko's house was eerily silent, as none of the girls really wanted to say anything after learning what had just happened. After a quick goodbye to Yukiko and Chie at the road to the Amagi Inn, Hamuko found herself alone as she made her way back to her house.

_Was there really a murder? _She wondered. _You know, that dream I had said that there was going to be a catastrophe upon coming here. Is this what it meant? What's going to happen now? Hopefully Iris will shed some light on what really happened when I see her later tonight..._


	6. Chapter 6

**Evening- Matsuda Residence**

Hamuko had spent the rest of day inside her new home, still trying to piece together what Iris had told her earlier about the incident. Once the sun had started going down, Iris had finally arrived.

"Hey guys I'm back!"

Hamuko was watching TV with Takao at the moment and turned to her. "Oh, welcome back Iris. Did you find out anything new?"

The reporter nodded. "Sure did. Even though most of what I had found out was what I had told you guys earlier, there was one really important thing that I got out of Ryo- err Detective Dojima."

"Well, what was it Ayame?" asked Takao.

"As it turns out, that woman was none other than Mayumi Yamano," said Iris.

"Isn't she that lady that was on the news last night?" asked Hamuko.

"Yep! And get this: When I was at the Amagi Inn earlier today, they told me they hadn't seen her since last night!"

"So, Ayame, was it a murder or something else?" asked Takao.

Iris shrugged. "That's the other funny part about this incident. Dojima told me that there wasn't any sign of foul play on the body. In fact, there wasn't a single scratch on her!"

"So what, she climbed up there herself and died?" asked Hamuko as she scratched her head.

"I seriously doubt it," sighed Iris as she sat next to Hamuko. "But until an official autopsy is done, that's kinda what it looks like. I'm sure they'll be looking into Nametame, the guy in the middle of the whole love triangle deal, but I seriously doubt a creampuff like him would do something like that."

"Um, this sort of thing doesn't happen a lot in this town does it?" asked Hamuko.

"Of course not," said Takao as he shook his head. "There is always a small element of crime but almost never anything of this scale."

Iris nodded. "Gramps is right. This sort of thing is super-ultra rare here in Inaba, so don't worry. Anyway, enough about the morbid stuff, how was your first day at school?"

"Oh, it was, um, interesting," said Hamuko. "Chie and Yukiko seem like nice people, and they did help me out."

"Good, good," said Iris. "I told you you'd like it there. Just hang in there, and it'll only get better."

Hamuko suddenly gave a loud yawn.

"Hmm, you know, you look pretty beat kid," noted Iris.

"I'm sure it's because she's still getting used to an active life now," replied Takao. "Still, it may be best if you turned in early Hamuko-chan."

The girl nodded and stood up. "Yeah, I think I will. I'll see you two tomorrow."

**April 13th Morning**

The new day started almost the same way the previous one had, with Hamuko being greeted in the kitchen by Iris and another plate of fried eggs and toast.

"How you feeling kiddo?" asked Iris as Hamuko arrived. "Rested I hope?"

"Yeah, I sure am," said Hamuko as she sat down and began eating. "I feel pretty good today, actually."

Iris nodded. "Good to hear. You'll be okay getting to school by yourself today right?"

"I should be able to," said Hamuko. "I'm guessing you'll be doing more investigating into yesterday's incident?"

Iris took a sip of her coffee before answering. "Yep. There's still a lot of unanswered questions that I want answers to. Everything about this case stinks."

_Iris really seems fired up toady,_ thought Hamuko as she continued to eat. _Maybe it's because she knew Mayumi Yamano? They were both reporters after all._

"Okay, I'm off Iris," said Hamuko as she stood up grabbed her things. "Thanks for breakfast!"

"See ya later kiddo," replied Iris as she waved to Hamuko as the girl left.

As Hamuko began walking, she noticed that even though it wasn't raining the sky was extremely overcast. _I hope it's not an omen..._ She walked to the crossroads to the Amagi Inn and paused to see if either Chie or Yukiko were around, which unfortunately they weren't. _Oh, well I guess I'll be by myself this morning._ Suddenly the sound of a loud crash nearby broke Hamuko from her thoughts. Just across the street she saw Souji standing next to what looked like someone who had somehow managed to crash headfirst into a trash can.

"What happened Souji-kun?" she asked as she rushed over to Souji.

Souji looked looked up at her with a slightly amused expression. "Oh, hey senpai. I think this guy lost control of his bike and managed to end up like that."

'Ha, ha, very funny," said a voice from within the trash can. "Can I get some help here please?"

Hamuko nodded at Souji and the two of them lifted the trash can off of the boy.

"Whew, thanks," sighed the boy. "You guys saved me." He paused for a moment as he looked at Souji and Hamuko closer. "Oh, hey you're that transfer student, Souji Seta right? And wasn't she with you, Chie and Yukiko yesterday after school? She your sister or something?"

Souji scratched his head. "Uh, yes and no. You got my part right but she's actually our senpai, and a transfer student herself."

"Oh, is that so?" asked the boy as he studied Hamuko.

"Um, yes," she said. "I'm Hamuko Arisato, third year."

"Well it's nice to meet you guys," said the boy with a smile. "I'm Yosuke Hanamura."

The name Yosuke was familiar to Hamuko. _Wasn't that the name of the person who broke Chie's DVD thing?_ She looked over at the trash can that Yosuke had fallen into and the bike that was next to it.

"Um, is your bike okay?" asked Hamuko, pointing the subject in question.

"Huh? My bike?" Yosuke gave her a confused look. "Wait, shouldn't you be asking if **I'm** alright, senpai?"

"Sorry, I thought you were okay..." trailed Hamuko.

"Ah, don't worry about it," sighed Yosuke as he retrieved his bike. "Anyway, did you guys hear about the incident from yesterday?"

Souji nodded. "We actually stumbled onto where the body was found."

"And, no, the body was already gone when we arrived," added Hamuko.

Yosuke shook his head. "Man, hanging a dead body from an antenna, that's messed up I tell you." He looked at his watch and sighed. "Crap, we're gunna be late if we keep standing around here. Do either of you want a ride? The bike's a little squeaky but it should be fine...I think."

"Uh, I'll pass,." trailed Hamuko. She wasn't too thrilled with the prospect of being dumped into a trash can like he was.

"Same here," said Souji.

"Okay, suit yourselves," said Yosuke as he got on his bike. "See you guys at school!"

Hamuko watched as Yosuke wobbled on his bike towards school. "I feel safer at least..."

Souji let out a chuckle. "No kidding, senpai. Come on, we better start running or we really will be late!"

"Run?" Hamuko was hesitant about doing such an activity. The doctors had cautioned her about overexerting herself; it might make her pass out.

"Well, more like a jog," Souji clarified. "We're not that far behind everyone, and the school itself is pretty close."

Hamuko nodded. _I should be able to manage that._ "Alright then, let's do it!"

**Ten minutes later...**

"Agh, I feel like I'm going to dieeeeeee," groaned Hamuko as she struggled to catch her breath at the school gates. "You're not even winded Souji-kun."

"Sorry senpai, I guess you're not quite used to running around huh?"

"N-no I'm not," Hamuko sighed as she leaned against the gate wall. "But I guess now is as good a time as any right?" Just then the bell for the first period rang. "Ugh, we'd better hurry!"

"Yeah, good idea," agreed Souji as he waved goodbye to her. "I'll see you later senpai."

Hamuko's legs already felt like lead weights as she trudged into the school and up to the third floor where her classroom was. As she plopped down in her desk she heard Saki chuckling next to her.

"Whoa, what happened to you Hamuko? You look like you just ran a marathon or something!"

"I feel like it," sighed Hamuko as she put her head on the desk. "This'll teach me not to be late again..."

"Ah, I get it," said Saki. "Yeah, that's how I learned that lesson."

Their conversation was cut short by Ms. Toriumi's arrival.

"Alright everyone, quiet down," said the teacher as she began flipping through her folder. "I know you're all probably excited about yesterday's incident, but you can all talk about it once class is over, alright? Now then take out your textbooks and turn to page..."

As Ms. Toriumi began her lesson on Composition, Hamuko found it rather easy to follow. It was just as the doctor had said at the hospital; her intelligence was right where someone of her age should be, at least academically. As for other things...that was another story. Still, at least it was one less thing for her to worry about. Maybe school life won't be so bad after all.

**After School**

The first real day of school was quite painless for Hamuko, much to her relief. As she prepared to leave the classroom, she noticed Saki had a rather downtrodden look about her.

"Is everything okay Saki?" asked Hamuko. "You don't seem very happy..."

Saki turned to Hamuko and gave her a weak smile. "Oh, it's nothing. I have to go to work now, so you know...It's not the most fun thing to look forward to."

"I guess not," said Hamuko. Still, going to work didn't seem like it would warrant such a sudden mood change. "I'll see you later then."

Saki nodded and left the classroom. Hamuko waited a few minutes before she left herself. After descending down the stairs to the second floor she heard Chie calling her name.

"Hamuko-senpai, wait up!"

Hamuko turned towards the direction of her voice and saw that Chie was approaching her from outside of a classroom, followed by Souji and Yosuke.

"Hmm? Is Yukiko not with you guys?"

Chie shook her head. "Nah, she's already headed home. She couldn't stick around because she has to help at the Inn. Anyway, you got any plans? We were heading over to Junes, and you can come with us if you want."

Hamuko recalled that Iris had told her that Junes was a shopping center of some sort. As she didn't have anything else to do, she didn't see the harm in joining them.

"Sure, why not?"

Yosuke sighed. "Oh, man please tell me I don't have to treat senpai too?"

Hamuko gave him a confused look. "Treat me?"

"Well, you see Yosuke here is the one who broke my Trial of the Dragon DVD," explained Chie. "Since he was going to treat Souji to some grilled steak, he graciously decided to treat me too. For breaking my DVD and all."

"More like coerced," said Yosuke as the group headed down the stairs to the bottom floor. "It was either that or endure another critical hit. But whatever. I guess it'll be okay to treat you as well since you're new here too."

"Well, I don't want to force you to or anything," trailed Hamuko.

Yosuke shook his head. "Nah, don't worry about it senpai. It's all good."

"How far away is Junes exactly?" asked Souji as the group walked out of the school. "It's not like thirty miles away or something like that right?" Hamuko realized that Souji wasn't asking that for his benefit, but rather hers, due to their jog to school that morning.

"Nah, it's about a fifteen minute walk from here," said Yosuke. "Nothing major."

"Oh that's good," said Hamuko with a slight sigh of relief.

As the group passed the school gates, Yosuke looked at Hamuko and pointed at her music player and headphones. "Hey are you big fan of music senpai?"

"Oh, uh yeah kinda," said Hamuko as she gripped her music player. "It was my older brother's and it's sort of like a keepsake; oh, but I still use it too."

"Oh, I see," said Yosuke as he pointed at his orange headphones. "Well, I don't go anywhere without my headphones either. I guess it's kind of like a lucky charm or something."

Hamuko wondered just how much luck they brought him, considering she had found him inside a trash can earlier that morning.

**Junes**

The walk to Junes wasn't long at all, just as Yosuke had said. Upon arriving at the place, though, Hamuko could see that it wasn't just a run-of-the-mill shopping center. It was more like a mall, with three stories. Even Port Tatsumi Island didn't have anything that was of this size.

"Well, here we are," said Yosuke, his hand on his hips. "Whadda ya guys think?"

"Um, it's...big?" said Hamuko, unsure of how to describe it.

Yosuke sighed. "Geez that's it senpai?"

"Sorry," trailed Hamuko. "I've never seen anything like it before."

"I guess that would make sense then," said Souji. "I kind of had the same impression actually."

"Well, I was hoping for something a little flashier from you guys," said Yosuke as the group went inside and headed for a pair of elevators. "I don't think we'd get too many customers with, 'Come to Junes: It's BIG!' "

The others laughed at Yosuke's joke, much to his satisfaction. Yosuke pressed a button to call the elevator nearest to them, and a moment later the doors to the other elevator opened.

"We really need to fix that," sighed Yosuke as the group walked over and entered the open elevator. Hamuko noted that the jingle from the commercial she had seen the other day was playing in the elevator.

A few seconds passed by before the elevator slowed to a stop and the group exited out to what was the Junes food court.

"Here we are," announced Yosuke. "Alright you guys go find a table to sit at and I'll go get the food." The others nodded went and sat at a nearby table. A few minutes later Yosuke returned with a tray containing four sodas and four plates of steak croquettes.

"Wait, this is the cheap place you were talking about?" asked Chie with an annoyed expression. "They don't have grilled steak here!"

"Well, since I suddenly had to treat you and senpai, I had to change my plans," argued Yosuke.

"Well, that's still no reason to take us to your place," Chie shot back.

"Hey this isn't 'my' place or anything like that," sighed Yosuke. Both Hamuko and Souji gave him quizzical looks after hearing that.

"Oh, that's right, I haven't told you guys huh?" said Yosuke. "I moved here from the city six months ago. This Junes just opened and my dad was assigned to manage it. So the entire family moved out here." He then handed a soda can to the other three. "This is to welcome the two of you to town. And of course yours is on me too Chie..."

"Yep, I know," said Chie. Then the four of them raised their soda cans in a mock toast and then began to drink. "So, anyway..."

After a few minutes of talking about school and the incident from yesterday, Yosuke suddenly perked up when he saw a girl dressed in a Junes uniform sit down a few tables away.

"Oh, it's Saki-senpai!" he said. "I'll be right back guys!"

Hamuko watched as Yosuke walked over to the girl, who turned out to be Saki Konishi from her homeroom.

"Is she his girlfriend?" asked Souji as he watched the two talk.

"Ha! He wishes," laughed Chie. "That's Saki Konishi. Her family owns a liquor store in the shopping district, but I think she works here part time. Go figure huh?"

After a few minutes of talking with Yosuke, Saki approached Hamuko and Souji.

"Oh, hey Hamuko!" she said with a smile. She then looked at Souji. "You're that other transfer student right?"

"That's right senpai," replied Souji.

"Oh, you heard about me already?" said Saki. "Must be nice to have other people from the big city to talk to. Hana-chan doesn't hang out with the other guys much."

"Wait, that's not entire true," mumbled Yosuke.

"He doesn't have a whole lot of friends so I hope you two can get along with him," continued Saki. "Hana-chan's a nice guy but he can get nosy sometimes. You gotta tell him up front when he starts to get annoying." It was strange to Hamuko that she would say that. It was almost like Saki was trying to make fun of Yosuke.

"Nah, he's not a bad guy," said Souji.

"I-I don't think so either!" added Hamuko.

Saki let out a small chuckle. "I was only kidding." Hamuko wondered if she really was.

Yosuke let out a relieved laugh. "You had me going there senpai."

"Well, time for me to get back to work," said Saki as she began walking away.

"Oh hey senpai-" Yosuke tried calling out to her, but she apparently didn't hear him and left.

"Well, Saki-senpai might say that I'm annoying, but she's even nosier than me," he said. "She actually has a younger brother and I get the same treatment from her."

"Oh, so you don't want the brother treatment huh Yosuke?" teased Chie. "I get it, that's how it is."

"He likes her?" asked Hamuko.

"What? No it's not like that," trailed Yosuke trying to hide a blush.

"Is that soooo," chirped Chie. "Well, I know just the thing to cure a lovesick heart you know."

"And what would that be?" asked Yosuke, clearly not believing her.

"You ever hear of the Midnight Channel?" replied Chie. "You're supposed to look into a TV that's turned off, alone, at the stroke of midnight when it's raining at night. While your staring at your reflection, another person will appear on the screen! And they say that person is your soulmate."

"You know for a second there I thought you were going to say something useful," sighed Yosuke.

Hamuko nodded. "That does sound kind of silly..."

"Yeah," trailed Souji. "Isn't that just some urban legend someone made up?"

"What?" fumed Chie. "You guys don't believe it?"

"Of course not!" answered Yosuke.

"Well, it's going to rain tonight!" declared Chie. "Let's all try it out- then we'll see who sounds silly!"

"Try it out?" asked Hamuko. "Um, you haven't tried it yet Chie?"

"Speaking of trying, I'm trying to remember the last time I heard something this stupid!" groaned Yosuke. "Anyways, about the incident yesterday; you guys think it was a murder? Oooo what if the killer is still lurking about? He could be right behind you Chie~"

"Cut it out," said Chie as she shivered slightly. "You really shouldn't joke about things like that! Oh wait, you live with Iris right, senpai? What does she think?"

Hamuko thought back to their conversation last night. "She's not sure herself. She said that the body didn't have any signs of a struggle; in fact there wasn't a scratch on her!"

"That is weird," said Souji. "But she had to get up there somehow right?"

"Ugh, I don't even wanna know how!" said Chie as she finished her soda. "Anyways, you guys had better try out the Midnight Channel tonight, got it?"

"Yeah, yeah," sighed Yosuke. "If anything, I'll get to say 'I told you so'..."

**Evening**

Hamuko had spent the better part of the day at Junes with the others, and by the time she had gotten home, it was starting to get dark, and it had just begun to rain. When she arrived home, she saw that Takao and Iris were talking about something in the kitchen.

"Oh, hey there you are," said Iris as she looked at her watch. "Wow, you sure were out for a long time!"

"Oh, sorry I was at Junes with some of my friends," explained Hamuko. "I guess I should have called earlier huh?"

Takao smiled and shook his head. "No, that's all right Hamuko-chan. The fact you've already made friends in such a short time is a good thing. Are you hungry?"

Hamuko shook her head. "Actually I ate when I was over at Junes."

"Anyway, it's good that you're here," said Iris. "You happen to know a girl by the name of Saki Konishi?"

Hamuko nodded. "She's in my class at school."

"Well, it turns out _she _was the one who found the body yesterday," said Iris. "A whole bunch of reporters were all over her earlier when she had left Junes. I didn't even get to talk to her..."

"So that's why she was so glum looking this morning," said Hamuko. "Hmm, it makes sense now."

"Well, other than that, there's been no new information on the incident," sighed Iris. "This really is a baffling case." Hamuko listened as Iris told her about her day.

"Anyway I'm tired. I'm gunna turn in early," said Iris. "I'll catch you two tomorrow."

Hamuko forced out a yawn. "I think I'm going to do the same actually."

Takao nodded. "I'll see you two tomorrow then.

**Midnight**

Hamuko was restless as she waited for midnight to roll around. Everything was silent save for the sound of rain hitting the roof as Hamuko waited on her futon, dressed in her pajamas.

_Your soulmate appears on the TV huh_? Hamuko sighed as she recalled what Chie had told them at Junes as she watched the final minute count down to midnight on the wall clock. _Yeah, right. I agree with Yosuke that this whole thing is just plain silly..._ She stood up and approached the small TV in her room until she could see her face reflected. 11:50. 11:51 11:52. _This is sooo dumb. Why am I even..._

Her thoughts were interrupted when the TV suddenly lit up and the image of a girl appeared on the screen. It was extremely blurry and out of focus, but she could tell it was a high school girl. _Is this supposed to be my soulmate? _She wondered. _But it's a girl..._

Suddenly a female voice in her head interrupter her thoughts. '_I am thou. Thou art I. Thou art the one who opens the door..."_ As the voice resounded in her head, it felt as if her head was being split open it hurt so bad. She quickly sat down on her futon to try to endure the pain, and as soon as she did, she felt it begin to subside. When it was over she looked back at the TV.

_What just happened? _She wondered as she stood back up and approached it. Even though the image had disappeared, she decided to reach out and touch the screen with her finger. Upon doing so, she saw that the screen actually rippled, as if it were a pool of water. _W-What is this?_ Hamuko decided to try something else. She pressed her right hand on the screen and to her shock and amazement, it went _through_ the screen! Fearing that something might grab her, she quickly removed her hand from the TV and immediately curled up on her futon, shivering in a cold sweat with fear and confusion.

_That did not just happen,_ she told herself. _That didn't happen. I'm just going to forget this whole thing..._


	7. Chapter 7

**April 14th -Morning**

Hamuko woke up to the sound of raindrops falling against the roof of the house. _The rain must not have stopped since last night I guess. Wait, last night I..._ She looked back at the TV in her room. _No way, that didn't happen, Hamuko! _She quickly got dressed and ready for school and headed downstairs. Once again she was greeted in the kitchen by Iris and a plate of fried eggs and toast.

"It's gunna be another wet morning," sighed the reporter. "So don't forget your umbrella, okay?"

Hamuko nodded as she poked at her eggs. She kept trying to force the events of midnight out of her head, but it kept playing over and over in her mind.

"You feeling okay kid?" asked Iris. "You don't look like your usual self."

"Oh, yeah, I'm okay," mumbled Hamuko. "I guess the rain is kind of a mood killer today."

"No kidding," nodded Iris. "I hate walking around in it, but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do, right?"

Hamuko nodded as she quietly ate her breakfast. She looked around for Takao, but noticed he wasn't around.

"Is Takao-san out today?" she asked.

"Yep," said Iris as she poured herself another cup of coffee. "Gramps is helping out at the Amagi Inn. Looks like the Inn has been getting swamped lately because of this whole mess with Mayumi."

"Come to think of it, Yukiko had to help out there yesterday," Hamuko recalled.

"I wouldn't doubt it," replied Iris. "She's going to be their new manager someday, after all."

Hamuko finished her breakfast and said goodbye to Iris and left, grabbing the red umbrella she had used on the first day of school.

_What am I gunna tell the others when they ask me if I saw anything,_ wondered Hamuko as she began walking to school with a rather brisk pace. _Yeah, I put my hand inside the TV, how about you guys?_ _Pfft, yeah right..._

Fortunately for her, Hamuko didn't run into anyone from yesterday's group on her way to Yasogami High, and she didn't waste any time getting to her classroom to avoid talking with any of them. _They already think I'm a wierdo; this would just be icing on the cake._ She looked around her class and noticed that everyone was already there except Saki. _That's weird, she's always here before me. I guess even she runs late every now and then._

Ten minutes later, the school bell rang and Ms. Toriumi arrived. Hamuko saw that Saki had still not arrived. _Guess she's not coming in today. Oh, well. Guess I'll have to get through school today without her._

**After School**

The school day had gone by just as easily today for Hamuko as as it did yesterday. P.E. was the only real challenge for her, but since it was raining, the girls simply played volleyball in the gym which was something she could handle.

As she headed down to the second floor of the school, she decided to pay a visit to her friends' homeroom to see if they really did see anything on the Midnight Channel. As she walked in she saw that Chie and Yosuke were laughing about something as they stood next to Souji, who was sitting in his desk. As she approached them she saw that Yukiko was not with them.

"Hey guys," said Hamuko. "Is Yukiko gone already?"

"Yeah," said Chie. "She had to help out at the Inn today too."

"They must be really busy then," mused Hamuko. "Even Takao-san is helping them."

Yosuke cleared his throat. "Okay senpai, time to spill it. Did you see anything on the Midnight Channel last night?"

"Um," Hamuko tried to stall as she considered what her response should be. "I, uh, saw a girl! I don't get what it means though."

"So we all saw the same thing?" asked Souji. "It doesn't make sense."

"Neither does your version, dude," laughed Yosuke. "Hey, senpai, get this. He says he stuck his hand into the TV after he saw the image and it almost yanked him inside!"

Chie chuckled along with him. "I liked the part where your TV was too small, or you really would have been sucked inside. Oh, don't forget about the part where you heard that voice in your head too!"

"!" _Souji-kun had the same thing happen to him? But it doesn't look like Chie or Yosuke-kun experienced it..._

"I'm telling you it really happened!" said Souji with an annoyed expression. "Why would I make that up?"

"Pfft, you just fell asleep in front of your TV," sighed Yosuke. "C'mon man..."

"Speaking of TV's," said Chie. "My family's been talking about buying a bigger one!"

"Well, those HD flat-screens are all the rage these days," said Yosuke. "Wanna go to Junes and check a few out? We've added a lot of stuff to our electronics department."

Chie nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, sure! My parents are total dummies when it comes to that kind of thing, and I really, reallllly want to see my kung-fu movies on the big screen!" She then went into some sort of martial arts pose.

"Hey watch it!" said Yosuke as he backed up a step. "Anyways, we do have some pretty big ones in stock. I bet they'd be big enough for you to fit into dude!"

"What about you senpai?" asked Souji with a sigh. "I won't hear the end of it if it's just the three of us..."

Hamuko nodded. "Sure thing Souji-kun! I won't let them be too hard on you."

Yosuke gestured toward the door. "Well, time's a-wasting!" As he and Chie walked out of the classroom Hamuko stopped Souji.

"About your story Souji-kun..."

Souji shook his head. "Not you too, senpai..."

"No, no it's not like that!" said Hamuko as she looked downward. "The thing is... The same thing happened to me..."

Souji gave her a look of surprise. "W-what? Are you serious?"

Hamuko nodded. "Yeah. After I saw the image, this voice sounded in my head; it gave me such a headache. Then later I tried to put my hand into the TV for some reason and it went through! But it didn't try to eat me or anything, cuz I got scared and pulled out my hand as soon as I had put it in..."

"I see..." Souji thought for a moment. "Let's keep that between us for now, senpai. I think Chie and Yosuke would just laugh at you too..."

"Right." agreed Hamuko.

Yosuke poked his head back inside the classroom. "Hey you two, what's the holdup? You're not already putting the moves on senpai are you Souji?"

"What? No!" Souji blushed as he answered his friend. "Come on senpai, let's go!"

**Junes**

After a somewhat damp walk to Junes, Yosuke led the group to the Electronics Department, where there were a great many TV's of various types and sizes on display. Chie rushed up to the center most one on display and looked at it.

"Wow this is huge!" she exclaimed as she looked at the price tag. "-and expensive, holy crap! Who buys something like this?"

"Beats me, rich folks?" offered Yosuke.

"You think so?" asked Hamuko. "The one at my house is about this size."

"Oh, well that would make sense because Takao-san is loaded," said Chie.

_That and it's Mitsuru-san's house_, thought Hamuko. _Well, one of them._

"Anyways, not many people actually shop for TV's here," said Yosuke. "That's why you don't see any clerks around."

Chie sighed. "Oh well, at least looking's free." She and Yosuke then walked up to the TV and pressed their hands against the screen.

"See? Can't get in," said Yosuke as he took his hand off.

Chie turned and faced Souji and Hamuko. "Well this proves it doesn't it Souji-kun? It was just a dream after all."

"Yeah, yeah," sighed Souji.

"Besides, this flat-screen is so thin, you'd just wind up on the other side," said Yosuke as he faced Chie. "Ugh, why am I bothering with that? Anyway, Chie what kind of TV are you guys looking for?"

"Oh, they said they wanted one that's cheap," answered the girl. "Any suggestions?"

"Right this way Miss!" said Yosuke as he lead her to a TV a few yards away.

When they left, Souji and Hamuko walked up to the TV that Chie and Yosuke had been standing in front of.

"I wonder," trailed Souji as he reached his hand out.

"Hey wait!" said Hamuko as she grabbed his hand. "Are you seriously going to try that?"

Souji nodded. "I want to prove it wasn't just a dream. You don't have to if you don't want to senpai."

Hamuko sighed as she let go of Souji's hand. "N-no I'll do it, Souji-kun. I want to make sure too..."

The two slowly reached out and put their right hands on the screen. And just as they had done the night before, they both reached into the screen.

"It-it really happened Souji-kun!" gasped Hamuko as she looked at him.

"Yeah..." trailed Souji as he looked at their hands that were submerged within the TV screen.

"Hey senpai!" called Yosuke. "What kind of TV do...you..."

Chie looked at him. "What's up Yosuke?"

"Are both of your arms... in the TV?" asked Yosuke as he gave Hamuko and Souji wide-eyed stares.

Chie turned to face them and gasped. "What? W-wait, is it a new model or something? You know, with a new kind of function?"

"Hell no!" said Yosuke as he and Chie rushed to Hamuko and Souji.

Chie gasped as she confirmed the fact that Souji and Hamuko's hands were through the TV screen. "Is this real? Are your hands really through the screen?"

Souji nodded. "Believe me now?"

"Whoa this is for real," said Yosuke. "Wait, no this is a magic trick, right? So how's it work? What's the secret?"

"It's no trick," said Hamuko as she looked back to Yosuke. "It's really real for real." She paused as she realized how dumb that sounded.

"I'm taking a closer look..." said Souji. He then leaned forward and put his head upper chest through the screen.

"Hey, wait don't do that!" protested Yosuke. "What are you doing?"

"Oh my God," gasped Chie.

"There's just empty space in here," Souji called. "Come see Hamuko-senpai."

"..." Hamuko was hesitant to do so. In fact, she was downright scared to. However, Souji appeared to be alright, so she leaned forward herself too see what Souji was talking about. Sure enough it looked like a wide open foggy space.

"It's really spacious inside here," called Hamuko. "Wow!"

"What do you mean it's spacious?" demanded Yosuke.

"And what about 'inside'?" asked Chie.

Hamuko could hear the two of them murmuring outside the TV, but she focused her attention to what was in front of her. It was so hard to believe that there was something inside the TV. Before she could ponder things further she suddenly felt Yosuke and Chie crashing into her and before she knew it, all four of her friends were plummeting down the empty space, screaming in fear and confusion.

Hamuko didn't know how long she and the other had been falling. It could have been a few seconds, or several minutes. It really didn't matter to her, it was all scary as hell to her. And then, just like that, she suddenly felt herself crash onto a hard surface, with the other three not far behind.

"Ow, geez," groaned Yosuke. "I think I fell on my wallet."

"Um, where are we?" asked Chie as she looked around. "What is this place?"

Hamuko stood up and looked around. She couldn't see much due to the thick fog surrounding the group. She did notice that her surroundings were rather yellow though.

"Is it some secret place in Junes?" she asked.

"Hell, no," said Yosuke. "We just fell through a TV! But, now that you mention it...where are we..."

"Okay first things first," said Chie. "We **are** still alive right?"

"I think so," said Souji. "Is everyone alright?"

"I'm okay," said Hamuko. "Nothing broken here."

"Same here," answered Chie.

Yosuke groaned as he stood up. "I think my butt's cracked now, but other than that, yeah I'm okay."

Hamuko looked around again and noticed that her eyes had gotten somewhat used to the fog. "Hey, does this place look like a studio to you guys?"

"Now that you mention it," said Chie as she looked around. "Yeah it does." The group took note of the various cameras, floodlights, and strange stage paraphernalia that made up the area they were in.

"Inaba doesn't have a place like this, does it?" asked Souji.

"Hell no," said Yosuke as he tried to take in the surroundings. "But, wow, this place is so huge."

Chie sighed. "What are we gunna do now?"

"W-we should get out of here," said Hamuko.

"Yeah good idea," said Chie. "We need to get home and-" She paused as she looked around again. "Wait, which way did we come from? I don't see a way in... or out for that matter!"

"Wait, that can't be right!" said Yosuke as he started to panic. "How can that be possible?"

"D-don't ask me!" cried Chie. "I can't take this anymore! I wanna go home!"

"Me too," said Hamuko in an attempt to calm Chie down. "But...how?"

Souji sighed and shook his head. "Well, guys, we're doomed."

The other three look at him in shock.

"D-don't stay stuff like that!" fumed Yosuke.

Chie pointed her finger at Souji. "You're giving up?"

"Sorry, sorry," said Souji as he scratched his head. "It was a lame attempt at a joke..."

"Real funny," huffed Hamuko as she gave him a small shove. "Not cool, Souji-kun."

"Hey, hey let's fight later," said Yosuke. "Right now we need to find a way out."

"But is there really a way out of here?" asked Chie.

"Well we got in didn't we?" asked Hamuko. "So there's gotta be a way out!"

"And if there is no exit, we're screwed," sighed Yosuke. "So let's cross our fingers and hope we find one. C'mon..."

"Come take the lead with me senpai," said Souji, gesturing to Hamuko. "Hopefully we won't run into anything bad."

Hamuko nodded as she began walking beside him with Chie and Yosuke in tow . "Okay." _I sure hope there isn't anything 'bad' here..._


	8. Chapter 8

**?**

After a few minutes of looking around, Souji and Hamuko spotted a single path that led away from the area they had landed in.

"Think it's a way out Souji-kun?" asked Hamuko as she squinted through the fog.

Souji shrugged as he started down the path. "Let's hope so, senpai."

Chie and Yosuke quietly followed the other two as they traveled down the path. After about ten minutes of walking, Hamuko noticed their surroundings had begun to change. Instead of the television studio style of environment, the setting seemed to have shifted to an older style type of building, like an old hotel or lodge. It was still hard to make out due to all the fog that permeated throughout the area. As it turned out, she was not the only one to notice the change.

"What is this place?" asked Chie. "It doesn't look like where we were..."

"Maybe some kind of building?" offered Yosuke. "But with all this fog, who can say?"

"What if we're wandering farther away from where we need to be?" asked Chie, looking around with a worried expression.

Souji turned and faced her. "If we are, we are. Still, I have a gut feeling that this way is correct."

"If you say so..." trailed Yosuke as he scratched the back of his head. "Anyway, let's keep going."

The others nodded and they continued down the path, which had become more of a walkway the further they went. Eventually they stopped in front of a doorway that appeared to be a strange red and black vortex.

"Okay, that is not normal," said Yosuke as he stared at it. "We're not seriously going to walk through that are we?"

"Yep," said Souji as he reached out and put his arm through the portal-like doorway. "Hmm, so far so good."

"Wow, you seriously have no fear do you Souji-kun?" asked Hamuko.

Souji turned to her. "No guts, no glory. It's something my dad always told me." He then turned back and walked through the portal.

"Oh wow," gasped Chie. "He really did it!"

After a few tense seconds, Souji's head reappeared through the portal. "It's okay come on in."

_If he says it's okay, then I'll trust him_, thought Hamuko as she slowly stepped through the portal. Just as Souji said, it was safe on the other side. A moment later, Yosuke and Chie appeared behind her.

"Yeah, that is definitely **not** normal," said Yosuke as he looked around. "Hmm, is it just me, or is the fog lighter in here?"

Hamuko looked around. Sure enough, it did seem easier to see in the room she was now standing in. It looked like some sort of bedroom.

"What is this?" she asked. "A bedroom?"

"Geez slow down guys," sighed Chie. "It's bad enough just trying to see where you're going without-" Suddenly she gasped as she looked in a different section of the room. "What the? It's a dead end! There's no exit here..."

"Not only that but it just gets creepier the further we go," said Yosuke. Suddenly his expression changed from concern to panic. "Oh crap, oh crap! I can't hold it any longer! I think my bladder's gunna explode!" He quickly ran to the far side wall of the room.

"Yosuke what are you doing?" asked Hamuko as she heard the sound of a zipper unzipping. "Wait, you're not going to do **that** right there are you?"

"Turn around, I can't go if everyone's looking!" fumed Yosuke.

"Eww, you have got to be kidding!" protested Chie.

Yosuke stood motionless for a moment before zipping his pants back. "Arg I can't do it! I'm blaming you two girls if my bladder bursts!"

"Like I care..." sighed Chie.

"Likewise," nodded Hamuko. She stopped and took a closer look around the room. "What's with this place? All these posters on the wall..."

"Their faces are cut out," said Souji. "Weird..."

"Someone must hate this person," added Chie. She was about to add something else when Yosuke backed into her. "Hey, what gives?"

Yosuke pointed at the ceiling. "Dude, this chair and rope... That arrangement is never a good thing."

Hamuko gasped as she saw what looked like scarf tied onto a rope in a noose-like fashion with a chair sitting underneath. It certainly looked like a suicidal person's setup. "What is this?"

Chie suddenly let out a nervous laugh. "Uh, why don't we just, you know, go back where we started from and see if we can't find another place for an exit..."

Souji nodded. "Yeah, sounds good to me."

Yosuke walked up to one of the cut up posters. "You know, I think I've seen these posters before..."

"Who cares?" fumed Chie. "Let's get out of here! I'm tired of this place! And, um... I'm not feeling so hot..."

Yosuke frowned. "Now that you mention it...me too."

Hamuko also felt like her body had begun to feel heavy. "Same here..."

"Let's just go back," said Souji. "I'm not feeling all that well myself..." The others nodded and walked out of the portal that brought them into the room and quietly made their way back to the area that they had arrived in. After what seemed like an eternity, the four finally found themselves back to the studio-like area they had landed in.

"Whew, we're finally back," sighed Chie as she sat down. "It feels like we walked a marathon or something..."

Hamuko collapsed on the ground, lying on her back with her arms out. "No kidding, Chie. I'm about to pass out..."

"Well, let's take a breather for a bit and then..." trailed Souji.

"Huh? What's up?" asked Chie, as she looked and Souji and then at the direction he was staring at. "W-what is that?"

Hamuko sat up and saw that a weird shadowed figure was approaching the group. Souji and Yosuke quickly stepped in front of the girls, who had quickly gotten to their feet. As the figure came close enough out of the fog to be seen, it was the weirdest thing Hamuko had ever seen. It looked like some kind of bear-like mascot that wore red and white, although the bear's fur itself was blue.

"W-what is this thingy?" she asked. "Some kind of bear?"

"Hey, wait a sec, who are you guys?" asked the bear.

"It talked!" gasped Chie, before going into a defense stance. "Who're you? You wanna fight or..?"

The bear immediately hunched over and covered its head. "Don't yell at me like that!"

"Okay, then what are you?" asked Souji. "And where are we?"

"I'm a bear," said the bear. "Can't you tell? I live here alone. This place doesn't have a name. I would know, because I've always lived here."

"Waitasec, you live here?" asked Yosuke.

"Yep!" said the bear. "But if I was you guys, I'd hurry back to where you all came from. Someone's been tossing people in here..."

"Throwing people in?" asked Hamuko. "I don't get it..."

The bear's face suddenly changed from a worried look at an annoyed one. "I dunno who's doing it, I just want them to stop!"

"Why are you yelling at us like that?" demanded Chie. "What are you? Where are we? What's going on here?"

The bear suddenly hid behind Souji. "Um..."

"Didn't I just tell you?" asked the bear. "Anyways, you four should get going."

Yosuke sighed. "So you want us out of here right? Well so do we; we just don't know how dammit!"

The bear stomped the ground. "Grr... That's why I'll let you out!"

"Huh?" asked Hamuko. "You can do that?"

The bear nodded and then tapped the ground with one of its feet. Suddenly a small tower of TVs appeared in a puff of smoke.

"The hell?" asked Yosuke.

"Where did those come from?" asked Chie.

The bear walked behind the group and began pushing them towards the TVs. "Okay, go go go! I'm a busy bear and all that!"

"Hey cut that out!" fumed Chie. "Stop pushing so hard!"

"Yeah seriousl-" said Yosuke. Before he could finish his sentence, however, the four of them were suddenly shoved into the TVs and through a space similar to the one that they had fallen through upon arrival. Hamuko didn't have much time to ponder this because a moment later she and the others were suddenly deposited out of the big screen TV that they had initially fallen through. Confirming this was the Junes theme that was blasting through the speakers.

"This is Junes isn't it?" she asked.

Yosuke looked around. "We made it back right?" His eyes lit up as he recognized his surroundings. "Yes it's Junes! I never thought I'd be so glad to see this place again! I kiss thy sweet floor!" He then kissed the tile floor.

"Ew?" said Chie. Before she could say anything else, an announcement for an evening sale on produce came on.

"We don't start those sales until at least 6:30 at night," said Yosuke. "Wow, that means it's at least that late now."

"Looks like we were in there for quite awhile,' said Chie as she breathed a sigh of relief.

Hamuko looked at her watch. It was 7 PM. "Wow, you're right. But it didn't feel like it though."

Yosuke was about to answer her but stopped when he spotted something on a nearby wall.

"Hey guys, look!" he said as he pointed at the item he was looking at. "It's that poster we saw earlier!"

"Huh?" Chie looked at the poster that Yosuke had pointed out. "Wow, you're right! It's a poster of Misuzu Hiiragi. This poster doesn't have the face torn off. So does that means all those posters in that one room are of her, too?"

"That name..." trailed Hamuko. "I remember it from somewhere."

"Wasn't she on the news or something?" asked Souji.

Hamuko nodded as she recalled the memory. "Yeah! Iris said that she was part of that whole love triangle deal that was on the news when I first got here. I think that dead announcer lady, Mayumi Yamano was it? And some dude named Na-me-ta-me were also involved."

"Yeah, yeah I remember now too," said Chie. "It's just like you said."

"Wait," interrupted Yosuke. "Does that mean that weird room we saw had something to do with that Yamano lady's death or something?"

Hamuko scratched her head. "Maybe? There were all those ripped posters, and that scarf-noose that we saw..."

"Ugh stop, stop," sighed Yosuke. "No more talking about this! I'm just going to forget everything that happened today! I don't think my heart can take it anymore."

"Or mine," sighed Hamuko. "Literally."

Chie nodded. "Let's just go home. I wanna lie down and rest. And take an hour long bath..."

"Alright then, I'll see you guys tomorrow," said Souji. "Ugh, I'm gunna hate the walk home."

**Evening -** **Matsuda Residence**

Hamuko had managed to trudge home from Junes by herself, but not before having the misfortune of getting caught in yet another downpour. By the time she had reached the house, she was glad she had her umbrella.

"Hey kiddo," said Iris from the living room as Hamuko entered the doorway. "Another late evening out?"

"Yeah..." sighed Hamuko as she sat down on the couch next to Iris. "I think I'm going to lay off of those for awhile. Um, is Takao-san not here?"

Iris shook her head. "Nah, Gramps is staying at the Inn tonight. Things must be crazy over there if they need him this badly. Say... You didn't happen to see that Saki girl at school today did you?"

Hamuko shook her head. "Saki Konishi? She wasn't in class today. Maybe she got sick?"

"Or just didn't want to deal with everyone asking her a million questions," said Iris as she watched the news on the TV. "Funny thing is, is that her family reported her missing this afternoon."

Hamuko looked at Iris in surprise. "Huh? They did?"

"Yeah... They said she actually left the house for school this morning," explained Iris. "And when she didn't come home, that's when they reported her missing. Ryo-kun, er Dojima told me all this a little while ago."

"Do you think something happened to her?" asked Haumko, with a worried tone.

Iris shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe she just ran away from home. I hear that she wasn't getting along with her parents lately. I bet she's just hiding out at a friend's house or something."

"...I hope so," said Hamuko.

Iris pulled out her cell phone. "Well, I'm going to tell Dojima what you told me. Since she's in your class, I can at least tell him that she didn't go to school today for sure."

"Okay..." yawned Hamuko as she stood up. "I'm just going to turn in tonight. I don't feel too good..."

Iris nodded. "Hope you feel better Hamuko. See ya in the morning, kay?"

Hamuko nodded and trudged up the stairs to her room. It did not take long for her to fall asleep.


	9. Chapter 9

**April 15th – Morning**

Waking up turned out to be a whole lot easier than Hamuko expected, given how tired she was from the night before. After a short stretch she got out of bed and noted that it was still raining. As she got herself ready for the day she could hear Iris cooking what she assumed was the usual fried egg breakfast.

"Hey, you're up early," said Iris as she watched Hamuko descend the stairs. "You feeling better?"

Hamuko nodded and sat down at the table. "Good as new...or something like that. So any new leads on what happened to that reporter lady, or Saki?"

Iris shook her head as she brought Hamuko her breakfast.

"Nothing but dead ends," sighed the journalist. "It's like they just, I dunno, vanished somehow."

"You don't think that's what happened do you?" asked Hamuko as she began eating.

"Of course not," said Iris, shaking her head. "People don't just vanish out of thin air and wind up dead atop telephone poles by themselves. Something strange is going on around here and I need to know what it is. Anyway, I'm heading to the Amagi Inn today so I'll walk with you on your way to school."

Hamuko nodded as she continued to eat. She had considered telling Iris about what had happened to her and her friends yesterday within that strange world, but decided against it. She didn't want Iris to think she was any weirder than she surely already seemed.

**Ten minutes later...**

The sound and smell of rainfall was starting to become very familiar to Hamuko. It wasn't exactly unpleasant but still, it was starting to get old.

"You know after awhile, this rain starts to wear down on ya," sighed Iris from underneath her umbrella as she walked alongside Hamuko. "I was hoping it would have let up today."

"Is the weather usually like this here this time of year?" asked Hamuko as she looked around.

Iris paused for a moment to think on the question.

"You know, it usually isn't," she finally answered as she began walking again. "I mean yeah, we get a good deal of rain about this time but...not at such a constant rate. And then there's the fog. I can't say I've ever seen it as much as we have recently."

The two continued to walk, making small talk when the distant sound of police sirens could be heard.

"I don't like the sound of that..." trailed Iris as the two reached the crossroad that lead to the Amagi Inn. "I wonder..."

"Hey, Iris, Hamuko-senpai! Wait up!" a voice called out. It turned out to belong to Chie, who was running up to the pair from the opposite side of the crosswalk.

"Hey, Chie," waved Iris as the other girl approached the two. "Hmm? Where's Yuki-chan? She's not skipping school is she?"

Chie shook her head. "No, no nothing like that. She has to help out at the Inn a little bit today- oh but she told me she'd come to school later."

"Still a hard worker that girl is," mused Iris. "Well I guess it can't be helped with her. Besides-"

Her sentence was interrupted by the sound of her cell phone ringing.

"Hmm? Who could that be?" wondered Iris as she answered it. "Hello? Oh Ryo-kun, what's up? Me? I'm near the Amagi Inn with Hamuko-chan and Chie-chan, why?"

The tone of her voice changed immediately upon hearing the next thing she was told.

"What? Are you sure?" Iris' face began to show a great deal of concern. "Right, I'll be sure to tell them that. Okay, I'll see you soon then."

"W-what was that all about Iris?" asked Chie as she watched the reporter end the call and put a hand to her forehead.

"Something's come up," said Iris in the most serious tone that Hamuko had ever heard her use. "You two head straight to school okay? ...I think you'll find out for yourselves what that was about later anyway." Without another word., Iris turned around and began running back to her house.

"Uh what just happened, Senpai?" asked Chie.

Hamuko shook her head. "You know as much as I do. Maybe we should just head off to school like she said..."

Chie nodded. "Yeah. I think that's a good idea. Still I've got a bad feeling about what made Iris take off like that." She shrugged. "Oh, well no point in worrying about it now. Let's go senpai."

Hamuko nodded and followed her, still thinking about what could have so quickly changed Iris' mood.

**Afternoon**

The first part of the school day was yet again mostly uneventful for Hamuko, save for having to listen to the various topics of gossip that had been spreading around the school- chief among them being the recent murder. She also noted that Saki wasn't in class today as well.

_I guess she really did go missing; but why? Did she run away from home or...?_

Hamuko didn't want ponder the subject too much but she found herself thinking about it periodically as she listened to her teachers' lectures.

When lunchtime came around Ms. Toriumi addressed the class before dismissing them.

"Alright everyone, I need you all to listen up for just a moment," said the teacher. "I need to inform you all that an assembly has been called for after lunchtime."

"Huh?" asked a student. "I don't remember there being one on the schedule..."

"Me neither," commented another.

"It was just decided a few hours ago," said Ms. Toriumi. "I'm told it has to do with Saki Konishi, but that's all I know at this point. That's all, so be sure to head to the gym after lunch."

_An assembly about Saki?_ Hamuko thought for a moment about what it could mean. _Maybe it's one of those 'don't run away from home' things? _She shook her head, deciding it wouldn't be useful to think on the subject anymore. And besides, she was hungry.

**Afternoon**

Lunchtime had ended and that meant it was time to find out what the assembly was all about. Upon arriving at the gym, Hamuko spotted Souji, Yosuke, and Chie all standing together near the front.

"Hey, Senpai," waved Souji and Hamuko approached her friends. "Looks like this assembly is a school-wide deal huh?"

Chie nodded. "Yeah, but the teacher doesn't even know what it's about. What's up with that?" She pulled out her phone and looked at the time. "Hmm. Yukiko said she'd be here after lunch. Oh, well, I guess she's really busy."

Hamuko looked over at Yosuke who was being oddly silent. "Something the matter Yosuke?"

Yosuke looked up at her, as he snapped out of his silence. "Huh? Oh it's nothing senpai."

Before he could say anything else, a teacher dressed in an Egyptian headdress and matching makeup addressed the students from behind the podium that was on the stage. Hamuko recognized her a Ms. Sofue, the history teacher.

"Settle down please everyone," she said. "The school assembly is about to begin. "First the principal has something to say." She motioned at the much older man standing next to her dressed in more traditional clothing. Hamuko assumed that he was the principal based on what Ms. Sofue had just said, as she had never seen the principal before.

The principal walked up to the podium after Ms. Sofue had finished speaking and after clearing his throat he spoke to the students.

"I...regret to say that I have a terrible announcement for all of you." He paused before continuing. "One of our third yeah students, Ms. Saki Konishi of Class 3... Has passed away."

A collective gasp was heard throughout the gym, of which Hamuko was part of.

_She's dead? But that can't be, Iris told me she was just missing!_ Hamuko's thoughts raced through her head as she processed the information.

"Passed...Away?" repeated Chie, who looked just as shocked as Hamuko.

Yosuke had a horrified look about him, but didn't say anything.

The principal continued his address to the students.

"Ms. Konishi was found deceased early this morning. The reasons behind her passing are currently under investigation by the police."

The rest of speech was nearly lost to Hamuko as the shock of the news hit her.

"Found dead?" asked Chie. "How could this happen? Wait, senpai do you think this has to do with what happened with Iris earlier?"

Hamuko recalled the phone call that the reporter had received earlier in the day, as well as her subsequent reaction. "Maybe... I don't know what's going on anymore."

The principal continued to speak for a few more minutes before dismissing the students and ending school early that day.

"Come on guys," said Souji. "There's no point in sticking around here."

Chie nodded and turned to Yosuke, who seemed to be the hardest hit from the news. "Hey, you coming?"

"Oh, yeah," said Yosuke as he looked up at her. "Sorry. You guys go on ahead, I'll catch up in a bit."

"Um, okay," said Hamuko. _He really is affected by this, and badly so it seems._

The group, sans Yosuke, wordlessly left the gym and eventually found themselves the school's entrance. Surprisingly, Iris was there waiting for them.

"Hey, guys," she said as the group approached her. "I take it you've heard the news?"

"About Saki-senpai?" asked Chie. "Yeah the whole school knows about it."

Iris nodded. "It's just as well. And before you guys ask, yes that's what the issue this morning was all about."

"So...what happened?" asked Hamuko. "Or can you say?"

Iris flipped through her notebook and shrugged. "The good detective requested that I not give out any details but~ I see no harm considering the rumors will reach your ears soon enough."

"So what happened?" asked Chie. "It's...nothing gory is it?"

Iris shook her head. "Thank God no. She was found hanging upside down on a telephone pole, just like Mayumi Yamano. No signs of actual foul play, either. Well, other than being dead of course."

"But is it being considered a murder?" asked Souji.

Iris nodded. "Yeah, it looks like it is."

Just then Yosuke joined the group. "Hey guys, sorry I took so long. Huh, who's that?"

"Oh, you haven't met Iris yet have you Yosuke?" said Chie. "She's a reporter that's from around here."

"Yeah I remember reading some of her stories," nodded Yosuke. "So you're **the **Iris, huh."

"In the flesh," said Iris, flashing him a thumbs up. "Well, anyway, regarding Saki, did any of you know her well at all? I already know about you Hamuko, so no need to repeat what we already know."

Souji and Chie shook their heads. "Hey, you knew her pretty well right Yosuke?"

"Well, she just worked at Junes, so I saw her a lot there," said Yosuke.

"Did you notice anything odd about her lately?" asked Iris. "Anything that would have indicated her running away from home."

Yosuke thought for a minute before responding.

"She seemed a lot more tired than usual, but she had been working more shifts too," he answered. "But she didn't say anything or act like she was going to run away from home."

Iris scribbled down a few notes before looking back up at the group. "Alright thanks. I'm going to see if I can't get some more info from the other students around here. You guys be careful okay?"

Yosuke waited for Iris to leave before talking to the group.

"Hey, did you guys check the TV last night?"

Chie sighed. "Yosuke this is not the time for rumors!"

Yosuke shook his head. "Just listen to me for a sec. Something kept bothering me last night so I checked it again. I saw the girl on the screen again, and...I think it was Saki-senpai."

"Really?" asked Hamuko. "Are sure?"

Yosuke nodded sadly. "Yeah, there's no mistaking it. And the thing is...Senpai looked like she was in pain. And then, just like that, she disappeared from the screen..."

"But what does it mean?" asked Souji. Suddenly it hit him. "Wait could it be...?"

Yosuke nodded. "I'm sure you've heard how Senpai's body was found in a similar way as that announcer lady's right? Anyway I overheard some guy in class say that when he watched the Midnight Channel a few days before Ms. Yamano was killed, he said it was her that he saw on it."

Hamuko suddenly got the picture as well. "Wait, so you're saying that she was on the Midnight Channel thingy before she died too?"

"Okay," said Chie as she scratched her head in confusion. "So what's that supposed to mean? Whoa waitasec! Are you saying that people who show up on that...die?"

Yosuke shook his head. "Without proof or anything I can't say for sure. But still, something tells me it's not just coincidence."

Chie tried to come up with something to say to refute his statement but couldn't.

"Um, didn't that bear-thingy say that someone was tossing people in that place as well?" asked Hamuko.

"Don't forget about that room with those posters all over the wall," added Yosuke. "It has to have something to do with the announcer's death, I just know it."

"So you think there's a connection of some sort?" asked Souji. "With that 'TV world' and the two deaths?"

Yosuke nodded. "Well, what do you guys think?"

"It sounds nuts but...yeah there could be something to it," admitted Chie.

"I don't know what to think anymore," sighed Hamuko. "But...well I guess I can't say it's not possible either."

Yosuke let out a relieved sigh. "So it's not just me then? Well then, if there is a connection then it's a sure bet they both went into that world somehow."

"Well, that could explain those posters we found in that room," said Souji.

"So...if we look around, we might find something similar relating to Saki then?" asked Hamuko. "Like a different place maybe?"

"Wait a minute!" objected Chie. "Are you telling me you actually **want** to go back into that place Yosuke?"

"Yeah," said Yosuke. "I want to find out for myself."

"No! Don't do this," said Chie. "We should just let the police handle this or at least run it by Iris-"

"The police?" fumed Yosuke, stamping his foot. "They haven't made any progress on the first case as it is! And Iris is just a reporter, and she wouldn't believe a story like this anyway if she's any kind of serious reporter anyway."

"Yeah, even if we did tell the police or her about the TV world..." trailed Souji.

"...They'd just laugh at us," sighed Hamuko. She suddenly had the image of everyone around her pointing and laughing at her.

"Look if I'm totally wrong about this then fine," said Yosuke. "It just...I need to know why she had to die like this, that's all. I can't ignore this now, not after what I've seen and put together."

He then looked at Souji and Hamuko. "Sorry, but you guys are the only ones who can help me now. I'm going to get ready; I'll meet you guys at Junes."

The others watched as Yosuke ran off.

"I can kind of understand how he feels," said Chie. "But still..."

"We don't even know if we can get out of that place again," added Hamuko.

"Well what should we do?" asked Chie as she and Hamuko looked to Souji for an answer.

"Hmm..." Souji gave a sigh before finally answering. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think we should go with him."

"Seriously?" Chie seemed a bit surprised by the answer. "W-well okay. Should we head to Junes now or-?"

"Ah, actually, can I go home first?" asked Hamuko. "I'd like to get a few things if we're actually going to do this..."

Souji looked at Chie and the two nodded. "Sure why, not?"

"Hey!" said Chie. "Why don't we go with you? I've never actually been inside Iris' place before."

Hamuko shrugged. "I guess it's okay? Iris will still be here and I think Takao-san is still over at the Inn, so we won't be bothering them."

"Well, then let's go before Yosuke decides to go into the TV by himself," said Souji.

Hamuko nodded. "Yeah, I'd rather not have him wind up hanging dead from some random place."

"Hey, don't joke about that Senpai," sighed Chie.

"I know, I'm sorry," said Hamuko, feeling kind of dumb for saying what she had just said. "C'mon let's go."

**Afternoon - Matsuda Residence**

"Wow this is a big place," said Souji as the group arrived at Hamuko's house. "You really live here Senpai?"

Hamuko nodded. "It's my home for a year, at least."

She led the others in and turned to them. "Okay I'll just be a sec. Uh, wait here I guess..."

She jogged up the stairs and went into her room.

_I can't believe I'm doing this,_ she thought as she searched out the briefcase that Mitsuru had given her. It didn't take long for her to find it and upon doing so she placed it on her bed and opened it.

She looked at the Evoker that rested within and hesitantly reached out for it.

_What good is this thing going to do in that place? _Hamuko wondered as she picked it up along with the holster. _Mitsuru-san even said it wasn't a real gun. Still...I'll feel safer with it. It was Minato's after all. Speaking of which..._ She closed the briefcase and walked over to the desk in her room where she had left the music player sitting after going to bed the previous night. _Every little bit helps..._ she thought as she put on the earphones and let the music player hang down outside her uniform. She quickly put the Evoker and its holster into her handbag and let her room and returned to the others.

"All done!" she said with a smile when she rejoined her friends.

Chie tilted her head. "Uh, so what was so important again? Wait don't tell me we came all the way here for **that**?" She pointed at Hamuko's music player.

Hamuko simply smiled and shrugged. "I feel naked without it. Sorry?"

Souji chuckled and shook his head as he smiled. "Don't worry about it. Let's head off to Junes."

The two girls nodded to Souji and together they left the house and headed off to Junes.

**Afternoon – Junes**

When Hamuko and the other arrived at the Electronics Department of Junes, Yosuke was already waiting at the TV they had fallen into with a golf club, a hockey stick, and a length of rope in his hands.

His face lit up when he the three come up to him.

"Alright, you guys came!" he said.

Chie shook her head. "We're here to stop you, idiot! You really shouldn't do this, it's way too dangerous!"

Yosuke nodded. "True. But we were able to come back once already right? So... If we go in through this TV again, maybe we'll meet that bear again."

"Maybe?" fumed Chie. "That's not good enough! What if it's **not** there and you can't get out?"

Yosuke sighed. "Look, I can't be like everyone else and act like this has nothing to do with me, okay?"

"Well, that might be true but.."

Yosuke looked at Souji and then at Hamuko. "What about you guys? Could you two simply walk away?"

Souji shook his head. "I won't but I'm worried about Chie and Senpai."

Yosuke nodded. "Yeah, it'll just be you and me..."

"Wait!" said Hamuko as she stepped between the two. "Saki was one of the first friends I ever made here! I can't just stand here and do nothing! I need to know what's going on too!"

Souji tilted his head. "Would you be able to handle it Senpai? We all know you're not fully recovered from... waking up... That's what I was worried about."

"I-I can handle it!" said Hamuko as she crossed her arms in front of her. "I'll still go in, even if you two say no!"

Souji and Yosuke looked at each other and shrugged.

"I guess she wins huh Souji?" asked Yosuke. The other boy nodded. "Yep."

"Wait, what about me?" protested Chie.

Yosuke turned to her and handed her the rope. "Don't worry I have a plan- I'm leaving you in charge of this."

"Huh, a rope?" asked Chie as she took it.

"Well, as you can see it's tied to me," said Yosuke as he pointed at the rope end tied around his waist. "So I want you to wait here, and hold this."

"Like a lifeline!" said Hamuko. "Uh...will it work though?"

"Don' t worry Senpai!" said Yosuke as he handed her the hockey stick. "Here, this is for you. I was going to use it, but something tells me you'll make better use of it. As for you Souji, you get the golf club. Oh and I have some medicine too in case...well whatever might happen. Just ask me for it if you need it."

"Well, it's better than going in with nothing, right?" said Hamuko as she took the hockey stick. _Hmm, I can wield this thing like that naginata I had in that weird dream from the other night..._

"Alright let's go!" announced Yosuke as he looked around to make sure no one was around to see them go into the TV. "Chie, whatever you do, don't let go of that rope!" He then turned to Souji and Hamuko and gave them a nod. "Alright, here we go."

Hamuko watched as both Souji and Yosuke entered the TV.

"Hey, wait!" Chie cried out. "Senpai..."

"It'll be okay Chie," said Hamuko with a smile as she looked at Chie. "We'll be back before you know it!" She then turned back to the TV and after taking a deep breath, she stepped into it.


	10. Chapter 10

**TV World**

Once again Hamuko found herself falling through a seemingly endless expanse, save for the alternating black and white rectangular shapes that outlined the path she and the two boys were falling through. It didn't take long them to reach their destination, although what that destination actually was was still a mystery.

"Ow," sighed Hamuko as she righted herself up from the hard landing. "I don't think I'll ever get used to this..."

"Remember senpai, it was your choice to come," reminded Souji as he was standing up. "We did try to talk you out of it."

Hamuko sighed. _Souji-kun's right, but you can't let it show! Be strong for once._

"Yeah, well it still hurts..." She mentally sighed to herself. _Yeah, real cool..._

"Pipe down, jeez," said Yosuke, who was already standing up and taking a survey of the surroundings. "Hey is this?... Yeah, this is the same place as last time!"

Hamuko looked around and noted that despite the heavy fog that was oppressing the atmosphere, it was indeed the same place that they had landed in the day before. "So?..."

"So, it means they're connected from place to place," clarified Yosuke, although it didn't really make sense to Hamuko.

"I'm still not getting it," sighed Hamuko, scratching the side of her head. "Am I missing something?"

Souji cleared his throat before answering her. "It's like this senpai: Different TVs will put you in a different area of this, uh world. Otherwise we would have stumbled into Saki-senpai yesterday, right?"

Hamuko closed her eyes and tried to digest the information. _Well, I guess that makes sense. I guess I'll just leave the hard stuff to Souji-kun then._

"Okay, I get it," she finally said. "So that means- Agh!"

The sudden appearance of the colorful bear they had met the last time took her by surprise, and she couldn't hide the fact.

"It's you guys again!" said the bear as he approached the group. "Why'd you come back?"

"D-don't just appear out of nowhere like that!" gasped Hamuko as she finally recognized the bear.

"Huh?" The bear scratched his head. "I've been here since you guys left. I'd say it was you guys who appeared out of nowhere. That means...You're the ones behind this!" He stared at the group with an accusatory glare.

"You're that bear-thing from last time..." trailed Hamuko.

"Wait, what the hell did you just say?" interrupted Yosuke.

"I can tell that someone's been throwing people in here," said the bear matter-of-factly. "Recently too. It's making this world more and more messed up."

"Um, okay..." trailed Hamuko. She wasn't sure what the bear was really talking about.

"Not only that but this is the second time you guys came here," continued the bear. "And it doesn't look like anyone forced you in either."

Souji shrugged. "Well that part is true," he admitted.

"Well that means you're the most suspicious!" declared the bear as he crossed his arms in front of him. "Rawrrr! So it must you guys that are throwing the people in here!"

Hamuko stamped her foot at the bear. "Throwing people in? Us?"

"What the hell are you talking about," fumed Yosuke. "If someone gets thrown in here and they can't get out, they might die!"

"B-but who would do something like that?" asked Hamuko, still nervously eying the bear.

"All this talk about throwing people in, does he mean Senpai and that announcer, or reporter lady?" wondered Yosuke.

Souji thought for a moment. "So, this 'someone's' threw them in maybe? It's a stretch to think they both fell in on their own."

Hamuko cleared her throat. "Um, isn't that what happened to us yesterday?"

"Hey, that's different!" said Yosuke with a fiery look in his eyes. "And as you can see, we're not dead."

"Er..." Hamuko didn't really see it was any different, but she decided to drop the issue anyway.

Yosuke decided to continue. "Let's assume he's not lying. Does this mean whoever threw them in here meant to kill them? Because if that's the case..."

The bear suddenly let out a frustrated growl and stamped his feet.

"What're you guys talking about? Why'd you all come back here anyways?"

Souji shrugged. "Is it really that bad we're here?"

The bear nodded. "It's a one-way door. You can't get back out once you're in here!"

"But...you let us out last time right?" asked Hamuko. "So..."

Yosuke crossed his arms in front of him triumphantly before responding.

"Hey, no need to worry about that senpai," he said as he grabbed the rope next to him. "This time we have a lif-"

He suddenly fell silent when he saw that the rope he had tied himself to had been severed a few inches from where he held it.

"Oh, no," sighed Hamuko. She suddenly found herself wishing she had listened to Souji about not joining the two boys to this place.

"Hey, you'd better let us out of here when we're finished investigating!" declared Yosuke, pointing at the bear and giving his best angry face.

"You? What about me?" growled the bear. "Things were quiet around here until around the time you guys showed up! Do you have any proof that it's not **you** guys that are throwing people in here?"

"Proof huh?" asked Souji. "Well it just so happens that..that..uh..."

Hamuko sighed as she sat down and drew her knees to her chest. "We don't have any do we?"

"Aha! So it is you guys!" announced the bear with pride.

"It's not us for the millionth time!" argued Yosuke, his voice becoming ever so louder. "We've got nothing to prove to you, so you better answer our questions!"

The bear tilted its head quizzically, which Hamuko took as a cue to continue where Yosuke had left off.

"People have been dying in our world," she said as she stood back up. "Not the, uh, normal way though. Every time it gets foggy, a dead body appears. We think it has something to do with this place, s-so if you know something, tell us, please!"

The bear eyed the group for a moment before answering. "A dead body...Whenever the fog appears... Well I do know that when it gets foggy on your side, the fog over here lifts. When that happens it gets really dangerous over here; that's when the Shadows get violent!"

The bear's face suddenly lit up. "Ah I get it!"

His sudden enthusiasm was not shared by the others.

"Huh? Well if you get it, then explain it so us dammit!" demanded Yosuke, his voice getting a little louder. "If it gets foggy on our side it isn't here? Shadows get violent?"

The bear nodded. "That's why I said to hurry back! It gets really dangerous here when that happens!"

The news did not sound at all good to Hamuko. Yet, as much as she wanted to run away at the moment, there was a single word that the bear had said that kept drilling itself into her head. Shadows. For some reason, she felt like she should know what that word meant, as if it was the most important word she had ever heard spoken since she had woken up from her coma.

Her thoughts were snapped as the bear pointed at the group.

"Okay I know you guys did it! You'd better stop it right now!" 

Yosuke untied the remains of the rope that was around his waist and threw it angrily on the ground.

"I've told you over and over that it wasn't us! I've had with you! Why won't you listen to anything we're saying?"

The bear shrinked back a little. "I-I'm just saying, you might be the culprits... I'm just making sure, that's all."

_Not a very effective way to go about doing that_, Hamuko thought to herself.

"So what is this place anyways?" asked Souji as he looked around the fog-choked surroundings. "It kind of looks like some sort of TV studio."

"Maybe something's being filmed here?" offered Hamuko.

"Hey, is this where that weird show is being filmed?" asked Yosuke.

The bear scratched his head. "Weird show? Filmed? What does that mean?"

"I think he's asking if someone's been recording the people who's been getting thrown in here," said Souji.

The clarification didn't help, as the bear looked just as confused as before.

"This world has always been like this. No one's ever done this 'filming' or 'recording' business before."

Hamuko raised her hand to get the bear's attention. "Um, can you explain it a little differently maybe, cuz I still don't get it..."

The bear sighed. "Only me and Shadows live here! I've already told you before!"

"But we don't know what these Shadow things are..." trailed Hamuko.

"Come to think of it, we don't even know what **you** are!" declared Yosuke. "You keep saying we're the bad guys, but to me, you're the most suspicious thing here!"

"Could he be the real culprit?" gasped Hamuko as she took a step back from the bear.

Yosuke did the exact opposite and approached the bear. "And what's with this stupid costume? I say it's time to show your face!"

Before the bear could react, Yosuke grabbed the top of its head and a moment later yanked it off and tossed the head to the ground. To everyone's amazement, there wasn't anyone inside the bear-suit.

"Ack!" gasped Hamuko and she and the other two back away from the bear.

"What the hell are you?" asked Yosuke as he and the others watched the bear retrieve its head and put it back on.

"That isn't funny you know," declared the bear in a sad voice. "And besides, I'm not the culprit. I wouldn't do such a thing...I mean I just live here. I wanna live here peacefully, that's all."

Yosuke's mostly hostile attitude towards the bear softened a bit upon hearing this.

"Alright, I'll believe that you guys aren't the culprits!" announced bear, his tone a bit more happy.

"Um, thanks?" said Hamuko.

"-But I want you guys to find out who the real culprit is!" added the bear. "You have to stop him! Or her if that's the case. You have to promise me, or else!"

"...O-or else?" Hamuko didn't like where this was going. _He's not going to eat us or anything if we can't will he?_

"I won't let you guys out of here!" finished the bear.

"What? That's not fair!" said Yosuke.

"But this can't keep going on!" argued the bear. "My home's gunna be a complete mess if it does!"

He suddenly began to cry.

"What's with the crying all of a sudden?" sighed Yosuke. "Geez this thing's really weirding me out..." He then sighed. "So, what should we do?"

About a minute passed before Souji spoke up. "Alright, let's do it."

"Really?" asked the bear. "Promise?"

Souji nodded. "Promise." He then turned to Hamuko. "What about you senpai?"

To be honest, Hamuko wasn't really sure she wanted to do this anymore. Sure it sounded good initially when she said she wanted to do this in the first place for Saki's sake, but the reality of it was, she really had no reason. It was then that she remembered Igor's words to her in her dream during the train ride to Inaba.

"_It seems you will encounter a great misfortune at your destination, and you will be called upon to assist in some way afterward."_

Hamuko's thoughts were going a mile a minute now. _A great misfortune? Could this be what he was talking about? But how am I supposed to 'assist'?_

There was no more time to think about it. She gave her answer.

"I'm in too. I mean we came here to find out what's going on right? But, uh, as things stand...we still don't know what's going on..."

Yosuke shared the other two's conviction. "Still, we need to find the real culprit huh? Fine I'm in!"

"Well, shouldn't we introduce ourselves to, uh, the bear?" asked Hamuko.

Yosuke nodded. "Yeah may as well. I'm Yosuke Hanamura, and these are my buddies Souji Seta and Hamuko Arisato."

Hamuko gave a polite bow to the bear. "Um, do you have a name?" she asked.

The bear nodded. "Teddie."

Hamuko had to hold back a chuckle at how fitting the name was.

Yosuke seemed to share Hamuko's sentiment. "Figures," he sighed. "Anyway, how are we supposed to find the culprit in the first place?"

Teddie shrugged. "I dunno. Oh, but I do know where the last person came in!"

That was certainly a surprising statement to the group, one that Yosuke quickly seized on.

"The...last person?" he asked. "Do you mean Saki-senpai?"

Teddie glanced to the side before giving an answer. "I don't really know the name. I just meant whoever it was that came in and vanished the last time."

Hamuko looked at the other two. "Well, it could be her, right?"

"I'll take you guys there; you might find a clue or two." said Teddie as he began fumbling with a small pack that was hidden somewhere on him. "But first things first, you guys should put these on." He then produced three pairs of glasses, each a different style and color, and gave each person a pair. Hamuko received a pair that was red-orange in color and appeared to be made of plastic and in the style of those cheap sunglasses that one could find in a supermarket, but the lenses themselves were clear.

"What are these glasses for?" asked Yosuke as he stared at his pair.

"Just put em on, you'll see for yourself!" said Teddie, with a bit of pride.

Shrugging, Yosuke did so as did the other two.

To Hamuko's surprise, as well as the Yosuke and Souji's, the fog that had obstructed their vision had suddenly vanished as soon as they had put the glasses on.

"Wow," gasped Hamuko as she took in her surroundings with her new-found clarity. Her immediate area did indeed seem like some type of strange television set, with spotlights and cameras illuminating the environment. The most striking thing about the place was, oddly enough, the floor. In the center was a black circle that emanated outwards in a ripple pattern, alternating in color between black and white. What was the most defining part was not the pattern, but what appeared to be solid white outlines of...bodies in various positions, like those on the TV police shows.

"Wow, it's like night and day with these things on," said Yosuke as he looked around.

Teddie nodded. "Yep, they'll help you travel through the fog. Don't forget, I've been here for a long time, so you can count on me!"

"Well that's... good?" said Hamuko, unsure if that really was something she should have believed. It didn't take long before her doubts proved to be founded.

"But I can only take you and show you where it is," said Teddie, with a sheepish look on his face. "You'll have to defend yourselves if it comes to that."

"What happened to 'you can count on me?'" sighed Yosuke.

"Y-yeah there better not be any monsters or whatever when we get there!" added Hamuko. _I don't know what I'd do if there were..._

Souji looked at his golf club. "Well we did bring weapons..."

Yosuke turned to him and shook his head. "Yeah, but they're more for show. I mean geez what's a golf club and a hockey stick going to do against...well whatever might be here."

Hamuko gripped her hockey stick and held it tightly against her and looked at Teddie. "Besides, if it dangerous, couldn't you do something instead of tossing that onto us?"

Teddie shook his head. "Nope! I don't have any muscles! But, wait! I can give you guys moral support and whatnot from a safe distance! How's that sound?"

"Er..." Souji was about to say something but instead walked up to Teddie and gave him a small poke on the side of his head. To the group's surprise, Teddie fell over.

"N-noooooo," cried Teddie as he flailed his arms and legs as he lay on the ground.

Yosuke facepalmed. "Ugh is this thing serious? We promised to find the culprit and **this** is all the backup we get?"

"Oh yeah," said Teddie, as he continued to lay on the ground, but no longer flailing. "Who's this 'Saki-senpai' person? Is it someone you know?"

Yosuke paused for a moment before answering Teddie. As he did, Hamuko detected a slight pained look from him.

"That's... not important," he finally said. "What is important is that now we know that she might have been thrown in here. Maybe we can get more information as well. Come on guys, let's go."

As Souji and Yosuke started to walk away, Teddie began flailing his arms and legs again. "W-waaaaait! What about me?"

Hamuko sighed and helped the bear to his feet.

"T-thanks..." said Teddie as he and Hamuko joined the other two.

…

**A little while later...**

The group had been following Teddie for what seemed like half an hour or so, and as they journeyed, Hamuko noticed that the scenery had taken a massive shift from the studio-like entrance that they had started in. It looked strangely familiar, and it wasn't only her that noticed it.

"What... is this place?" asked Yosuke as he looked around. "It looks just like...the shopping district."

_Ah that's it!_ Hamuko mentally recalled the time that Takao and Iris had picked her up from the train station. They drove through this section of town on their way home. Yet it was still mostly foreign to her as that was the only time she seen that part of town since her arrival in Inaba. Still there were some differences between the two areas, namely the much darker atmosphere where she and the others were currently at. The 'sky', as it was, consisted of black and red streaks that constantly moved. It weird and somewhat unbalancing to her, as if it were an 'evil' version of the shopping district.

Souji nodded. "That's what I thought, too. What's up with this place?"

The group turned to Teddie for an answer, who appeared quite saddened.

"There's been some strange places that have appeared here recently, and this is one of them," Teddie explained. "Things have become so tangled and jumbled around here. I dunno what to do."

Yosuke nodded. "Well, I guess sort of makes sense from your point of view..." He paused when he saw just how far Teddie had distanced himself from the group. "Um, why are you standing so far away from us?..."

"You're not going to run away if something happens are you?" asked Hamuko in her best accusatory tone.

"Oh, no of course not~" said Teddie, with the most unconvincing innocent expression Hamuko had ever seen. "I-I mean I don't want to get your way or anything..."

Yosuke sighed, tired of trying to get a straight answer out of Teddie.

"You know, I wonder why this place in town of all places would be replicated here. It doesn't make sense."

Teddie shrugged. "Beats me. This place is reality for the one who's here."

"I don't get it..." said Hamuko.

Souji nodded. "I don't think any of us do, senpai."

"As usual, nothing he says makes any sense," agreed Yosuke. "But...If this shopping district is accurate, then that means Saki-senpai's..." He suddenly took off up the road, and was quickly followed by the rest of the group. After a short run they found Yosuke standing in front of a particular store.

"I knew it!" said Yosuke, his hands on his hips. "This is the liquor store that Saki-senpai's parents run."

Hamuko looked at the store and noted that the doorway had been replaced by the weird red and black swirly portal that they had seen the previous day in the section they had explored.

"Maybe she came here?" she offered.

Yosuke nodded. "I think so. But...what could have happened?" He began to walk towards the door, but was immediately stopped by Teddie.

"W-wait! They're here!" he said, with the most scared voice Hamuko had ever heard from anyone.

"Who's 'they'?" asked Yosuke, clearly annoyed by Teddie's interruption.

"Shadows!" gasped Teddie as he looked around. "I was afraid they were going to attack..."

Before Yosuke could question Teddie further, the portal began to ripple and two...things slithered out. They looked like black blobs with some type of blue mask attached to each them. They slithered toward Yosuke for a few feet before floating in the air and turning spherical in shape, and gaining a pink striped color scheme. The side that the masks were on suddenly turned around and the other side of the monsters revealed a...giant mouth, with lips, teeth and a long slobbering tongue. It was perhaps the most disturbing thing Hamuko had ever seen, and yet there was a strange familiarity somewhere within her, like she had seen something like this before.

The sound of Yosuke scrambling towards her and Souji snapped her out of her thoughts.

"Oh, shit what are we gunna do?" panicked Yosuke as he watched the two 'things' slowly float towards them.

Hamuko gripped her hockey stick, preparing to defend herself in whatever way she could when she noticed that Souji had fallen to one knee, clutching his forehead in pain.

"Hey Souji-kun are you okay?" she asked as she knelt down next to him. He gave no answer but instead slowly stood up with a strange smile on his face. For a moment Hamuko feared that he had suddenly gone mad, but then she noted a strange card in his right hand, glowing blue, as if aflame somehow. If it was, Souji showed no sign of being burned by it.

"Souji?" she asked again. No answer. _What's going on?_ She wondered as she watched Souji stare at the flaming card in his hand. Suddenly Souji uttered a single word, quiet yet strong at the same time.

"Per..so...na..."

As soon as he spoke the word, the blue flames from card in his hand suddenly intensified until it seemed to envelop his entire body. As if the sight wasn't enough to unnerve Hamuko, the figure that appeared behind Souji nearly did as well. It was an extremely tall figure, a little more than two times as tall as Souji was. It was dressed in a black coat of some type and the pants were black as well. The face was, well it was more like a silver mask of sorts, but she could make out a pair of yellow eyes from behind it. In its hand was a large sword-knife thing that she had never seen before. She guessed it was male, but there really was no telling for sure. At least not yet.

Before she could analyze the...whatever it was, the two Shadows that had appeared suddenly towards Souji charged at him.

"Izanagi!" shouted Souji, golf club still in hand. As if by some kind of remote, the large being that was behind Souji suddenly rushed to the front and swatted at the two Shadows with its weapon. As it fought off against the two Shadows, Hamuko noticed that Souji was visibly concentrating on the movements of the being that had appeared out of him. Could it be that he was also controlling it?

Teddie sensed this as well and began to give advice to Souji, albeit from a safe distance.

"Some Shadows have weaknesses! If you can figure out what it is, fighting them will be a lot easier!"

Souji took in the information that Teddie had given him and uttered the word "Zio". As soon as he did, a bolt of lightning came out of the being's weapon and struck one of the Shadows, causing it fall on the ground and flop to its side. He followed it up with a downward swing of his weapon, and the Shadow dissipated into nothingness. He repeated the same process with the other Shadow, and when it dissolved away, the being that Souji had summoned vanished away, and Souji himself simply stood where he was, looking rather dumbstruck as to what had just happened. Hamuko couldn't blame him.

Yosuke ran up to him, equally amazed. "Wow, what was that?"

Souji looked at him and then at his hands. "I-I'm not sure... Something called a Persona. I think its name was...Izanagi."

"Never mind that, are you okay?" asked Hamuko. "That wasn't exactly...normal what you just did you know."

Souji moved around a bit before nodding. "Yeah." It was then that Teddie ran up to him.

"Wow that was awesome Sensei!" he beamed.

_Sensei? What's up with that?_ Wondered Hamuko.

"I am one impressed bear!" Teddie continued. "It's no wonder the Shadows are so scared of you! Could it be that you are the one who can bring people into this world?"

Souji scratched his head as he tried to come up with a response. "I don't really know Teddie," he finally answered.

"Hey, hey no need to be so modest, Sensei!" replied Teddie. "It's really something! Right~ Yosuke?"

Hamuko pondered what Teddie had just said. _But...I was able to go through the TV too on my own; I didn't need Souji-kun for that. What does it mean?_

Yosuke didn't do any kind of pondering, instead seizing on the fact that Teddie still called him by his name.

"Hey, you call **him** Sensei, but you don't show me any respect?" he fumed.

Teddie shrugged. "Sorry."

Yosuke sighed and shook his head. "Whatever, it's not a big deal I guess. Plus your support wasn't all that bad either."

"Aw gee, you're embarrassing me!" blushed Teddie.

"Well, let's hope the rest of the way isn't so bad," said Hamuko.

Yosuke nodded. "Right. Back to our investigation!"

The four then turned toward the portal at the store's entrance and just as they were about to enter, they suddenly heard different voices from all around, with no clear source.

"Man, Junes sucks!"

"I hope that store flops!"

"It's all because of that store that we're suffering!"

Naturally, Yosuke was unnerved upon hearing the voices and what they were saying.

"What's going on?" he asked. The only answer he got was more disembodied voices.

"You know, I heard from someone that Konishi-san's daughter works there!"

"Oh, how terrible! How could she betray her family's business like that?"

"Well, I heard that their sales have plummeted because of Junes!"

Yosuke looked even more and more distraught with each sentence spoken.

"To have his own daughter working for the enemy...I can only imagine how ashamed the father must be."

"What a terrible, thoughtless child!"

"Teddie, what's all this about?" asked Hamuko as she tried to find an explanation so Yosuke wouldn't have to ask himself.

"If this place is reality for the person who comes here," said Souji as he looked around. "Does that mean this is what senpai experienced as well?"

Teddie shrugged. "I...only know what's here. I can't say one way or the other."

Yosuke clenched his fists in determination. "Fine, then. Whatever's happening here... We'll find out what it is!"

And with that the four entered the portal.

Upon their entering, a lone figure emerged from the shadows from across the street. The group had been observed by this figure, unbeknownst to them.

_One of them can fight Shadows, like I can... What does this mean? Are those people and that bear friend or foe?_

A pair of red eyes stared at the portal. A light metallic sound could be heard as the figure crossed the street towards the store, its feet being the source. The figure stared at the portal in contemplation.

_I must...observe further_. _I can't reveal myself just yet. _And a moment later, the unknown figure entered the portal.


	11. Chapter 11

"The inside of this place looks just like the real thing too..." Yosuke said as he and the others looked around the interior of the liquor store. "It's too unreal..."

Hamuko didn't really know what the inside of a liquor would look like, but judging from all the various crates and bottles of alcohol, it would seem that this is what one would look like. Still, the creepiness and the overall oppressive atmosphere that existed outside was apparent inside too. If the dark lighting didn't reinforce that aspect, the voices that started shouting from nowhere did.

"How many times do I have to repeat myself, Saki?" shouted a man's voice.

Yosuke looked visibly startled. "Is that Senpai's dad?" he asked as he looked around.

"Don't you know what everyone's saying about you?" continued the voice. "You should be ashamed of yourself! The eldest daughter of this store working at Junes! Is it the money, or some guy that works there? Just tell me why you have to work at Junesof all places!"

Yosuke looked even more despondent after hearing this. "It doesn't make sense... She always looked like she enjoyed working at Junes."

Hamuko looked at Yosuke. "She never brought anything like this up?" she asked him.

Yosuke shook his head. "Not to me. She never mentioned anything like this at all. She...This is how she truly saw things?"

Souji was looking something over at the check-out counter when he motioned for the others to join him. "Hey guys look at this!"

Yosuke and Hamuko rushed over to him to see what he wanted to show them.

"Hmm? These are pictures that were taken a few days ago," said Yosuke as he and Hamuko joined Souji. "It's me and her with the other part-timers at work."

Hamuko pointed out the obvious problem with the pictures. "Why are they cut up like they are?"

"I-I don't know," said Yosuke. "It doesn't make sense. Why would-"

Another voice cut off Yosuke's sentence. A voice that Hamuko recognized. It was Saki's.

"You know, I never had the chance to say it..." spoke Saki's voice in a sad tone.

"It's...Senpai!" said Yosuke as he looked around, vainly trying to locate the source.

"I always wanted to tell Hana-chan...that I can't stand him, and that he was a pain in the ass!" continued Saki's voice, this time with a degree of anger.

"What?..." Yosuke seemed generally shocked upon hearing this. "That couldn't be true!"

"He was the manager's son, so that's why I was nice to him and kissed his ass all the time!" fumed Saki's voice. "But of course he just took it the wrong way and got all worked up... What a dumbass!"

"A...Dumbass?" trailed Yosuke. He looked like he was in shock.

"Ugh, who cares about Junes," groaned Saki's voice. "Because of that place, our business is ruined, my parents and my neighbors hate me... ugh. I wish everything would just... disappear.

Yosuke had heard enough. "Senpai's not like that!" he cried out. "There's no way she'd say stuff like that!"

Before either Hamuko or Souji could say anything to him, another voice began to speak out from behind them.

"Aww...It's so...horrible. I feel sooo sorry for myself!"

"?" The group turned to face the source of the voice. It belonged to...Yosuke? It certainly looked like him, from his uniform to his face and posture. Even the headphones were the same. He didn't have the glasses on either. But something seemed off...His eyes were yellow, and it seemed like there was some strange aura to him. Not to mention there was a strange tamber to his voice as well.

"What's this?" asked Hamuko as she did a double-take. "There's another Yosuke?"

"You know, it's pretty funny, actually. I'm the one who thinks everyone's a pain in the ass!" chuckled 'Yosuke'.

The real Yosuke approached his doppelganger. "Who are you?" he asked. "I wouldn't think stuff like that!"

The other Yosuke simply laughed. "Sure, sure! Keep telling everyone that! The shopping district and Junes can just go to hell! Everything sucks, especially living out in the middle of nowhere!"

Yosuke seemed even more agitated after hearing this. "What are you talking about? That's not true!"

At the same time the unknown figure that had followed the group into the store had hidden among the shelves and boxes near the back, careful not to draw any attention. Upon the appearance of the other 'Yosuke' , the figure became a bit more concerned.

_Shadow detected. Class C. Threat level moderate. It doesn't resemble any of the ones I've seen before though. I'd better not let my guard down though. Let's see what happens for now..._

She watched as the other Yosuke goaded the real one on.

"You do a good job of looking all happy and carefree, but it's only because you're afraid of being alone." The other Yosuke smirked as he continued. "That's how it is with you right? You gotta be surrounded by people so you don't feel so alone! Oh, and don't get me started on why you checked out this world. You said it's for Saki-senpai's sake but I know the real reason why you came!"

The real Yosuke shook his head, as if to erase what he had just heard. "Stop it! Shut up!"

The other Yosuke's smirk only widened as he saw his counterpart's panicked reaction.

"Why so nervous huh? I thought I was blabbing random crap around! Or maybe... it's because I **do** know everything that you're thinking! And why would that be? It's because I **am** you!"

"T-that's not true!" shouted Yosuke, sounding even more unnerved. This only seemed to encourage the other Yosuke to continue.

"You're only here for kicks anyway! I mean what else is there to do in this run-down shithole of a town right? Just think about it! A world inside the TV! Now **that's** exciting isn't it? You had no other reason for coming here **did you**?"

"Stop it! None of that's true!" shouted Yosuke. It seemed to Hamuko like he was about to become unraveled at any second. Before she could say anything, the other Yosuke continued.

"You were just trying be a big deal, that's all," he said as he crossed his arms in front of him. "If everything went your way, hey maybe you'd even be a hero! Oooo and that Senpai you were crushing on... Her death really was the perfect excuse, wasn't it?"

Yosuke had had enough at this point. "No, none of that's true at all! Who are you? What are you?"

The other Yosuke simply laughed and shrugged. "Weren't you listening? I already told ya. I'm you. Your shadow. I know everything there is to know about you."

The real Yosuke gritted his teeth in anger upon hearing this. "Not a chance! I don't know you at all! You...You can't be me you rotten miserable son of a bitch!"

"H-hey Yosuke, calm down..." pleaded Hamuko. She never thought someone like Yosuke would be able to get so worked up like he was now; it was rather frighting to her.

Yosuke shook his head. "No way! That isn't me! You hear me? You're not me! You're nothing like me!"

The other Yosuke's smile turned into a malicious grin upon hearing Yosuke's continued insistence that they were not the same.

"You're right," he said as a dark glow began to emanate from him. "I'm not you anymore. I'm...something far worse now!" Suddenly, almost out of nowhere, several Shadows began to converge upon the other Yosuke, who's dark glow grew larger and brighter as more and more Shadows gathered and attached themselves onto him.

"!" The unknown figure tensed up upon witnessing the event. _The Shadows are merging with that one in particular! The readings are spiking everywhere! H-how is this possible?_

The glow intensified to the point where Hamuko and the others could no longer look at what was happening. A few moments later she gasped as she saw Yosuke suddenly faint and collapse to the floor.

Rushing to him, she tried shaking him to rouse him but the action was in vain.

"Looks like he couldn't handle the truth!" boomed a loud voice where the other Yosuke had been. Hamuko looked up nearly screamed at the sight she saw. It was no longer the near perfect copy of Yosuke that stood before her, rather it was a terrifying monstrosity in its place. Its size was at least two stories tall, and that was the least frightening part about it. It had the body of some kind of sinister-looking frog that was colored in a green camouflage pattern. In the middle of its body protruded the upper torso of what appeared to be some kind of nightmarish ninja, its body black with huge yellow gloves, a red scarf and large yellow shurikens for eyes. If she were anywhere else she would have thought that this was some kind of cheap movie prop, but unfortunately, that was not the case.

The unknown person nervously remained hidden as the new monster revealed itself.

_A Class A Shadow? N-no! I can't beat something that powerful, even with that boy who summoned that Persona earlier. W-what do I do? Do I leave them to their fate? Or do I..._

"I am a Shadow," said the new other Yosuke as he slowly approached the group, knocking over shelves and boxes as he did so. "The true self. I'll crush everything that bores me...Starting with you all!"

"Ohmygodohmygod," gasped Hamuko as she watched Shadow Yosuke slowly get nearer. "S-souji-kun what do we do?"

Souji looked at her and then back at Shadow Yosuke and slung the golf club he was holding over his shoulder. "I'll fight him and beat him senpai." he said without a hint of worry or fear. "Not many other choices are there?"

Hamuko watched as a blue card appeared in Souji's hand; it was the same one that appeared when he had fought the Shadows outside of the store. He crushed the card and uttered the word "Persona!" as he did so, causing it to disappear. Once again, the large being that had appeared previously materialized in front of him. Hamuko remembered that Souji had called it Izanagi.

"Be careful Sensei!," shouted Teddie from somewhere nearby. Hamuko turned to see that he was peeking out from behind a stack of crates a few yards away from her. "This Shadow is a lot stronger than ones you fought earlier, so look out!"

As if to prove the point, when Souji's Persona moved to engage Shadow Yosuke, the latter released a huge blast of wind, causing Izanagi to stagger backwards, and Souji himself took a few steps back.

"Ha ha ha!" laughed Shadow Yosuke. "How long can you last? I bet you won't even last five minutes!"

Souji did not respond; he simply righted himself, and as he did so Izanagi did the same. Hamuko saw that he still kept his usual calm and cool composure; how he was able to was beyond her.

"Come on, come on!" Shadow Yosuke jeered as he watched Souji and Izanagi stand back up. "Gimme your best shot!"

Souji was more than happy to take the offer and used Izanagi to blast Shadow Yosuke with a Zio spell. The resulting electrical shock caused the monster to suddenly jolt and flip over onto it back.

"Arg, what the hell?" The ninja half of Shadow Yosuke was pinned beneath the frog portion and was none too happy about it. It was even less happy about Izanagi ramming its shoulder into him as well as Souji taking a few swings of his own with his golf club on the frog portion.

The advantage didn't last long though, as Shadow Yosuke managed to knock the two of them back and right himself.

"Grr, I guess it won't be so easy after all," growled Shadow Yosuke as he backed up a few steps, the ground rumbling a bit as he did so. "Good, I was afraid this would be over too fast! Time to up the ante a bit dontcha think?"

Hamuko suddenly heard scratching sounds from nearby and turned to see several black ooze -like Shadows crawling towards her and the unconscious Yosuke.

"S-souji!" she called out. Souji turned to see what was wrong and the moment he did, Shadow Yosuke too the initiative.

"What are you looking at dumbass?" he asked as he emitted another blast of wind at Izanagi and Souji. This time the blast sent both of them to the ground. Shadow Yosuke them jumped on top of Izanagi and began to throttle him with the ninja half. Souji suddenly grabbed at his throat as if he was the one being choked. It wasn't long before he fell to his knees as he struggled to breathe.

Hamuko wanted nothing more than to help him, but the Shadows that now separated the two of them made that impossible. It didn't help that the Shadows were getting closer and closer. She gripped her hockey stick tightly, not knowing how she was going to defend herself against these things.

"S-sensei, are are you okay?," Teddie called out. "Come on, fight back!"

"Bwahaha! I guess you weren't too much of a challenge at all!" laughed Shadow Yosuke as he continued his chokehold on Izanagi and by extension Souji as well. "Too, bad! I was hoping to have a little fun! I guess- oof!"

His sentence was interrupted as he was suddenly knocked backwards.

"Nrg? What was that?" fumed Shadow Yosuke as he looked around. To his and everyone else's surprise, a second large being similar to Izanagi had appeared. It was mostly female in the fact that even though there was no tangible body it was dressed in a white wedding gown and long gloves, but instead of a head was a large red and pink butterfly.

"Huh? That looks like a Persona! Where did it come from?" asked Teddie as he watched Izanagi and Souji stand back up.

His question was answered a moment later when the Shadows that were closing in on Hamuko suddenly skittered off and another person ran up to her. At least Hamuko thought it was a person at first. Upon closer inspection, the person appeared more like a robot than anything else. It appeared feminine with black armor plating on its chest arms and legs. It didn't have any feet either; the legs simply ended at a point. The right arm also had a white covering over it, making it stand out a bit more. It also wore colorful wrist guards and some kind of armored skirt that stood out in contrast to the dark color of its body. The head and face was obscured by an equally colorful red visor. In its hands was a large golden colored staff of some type.

"You should get back," said the robot-girl to Hamuko. Its voice was indeed female, as if belonging to a young teenage girl. She turned towards Shadow Yosuke who was looking at Izanagi and the new Persona. "This Shadow... It's a lot stronger than it's letting on."

Souji wipe a bit of sweat off his face before looking at her. "What? Wait, who are you?"

"Later," said the robot-girl without even looking at him. "Focus on the fight."

Reinforcing her point was the fact that Shadow Yosuke was stomping toward their Personas.

"...Okay," said Souji as he turned back to Shadow Yosuke.

"Two on one? That hardly seems fair," scoffed Shadow Yosuke. "Whatever, I'll stomp both your asses into the ground!"

"Let's do it, Psyche!" shouted the robot-girl as she pointed at the monster. The new Persona rushed at Shadow Yosuke and created a blast of wind from its hands. To their surprise Shadow Yosuke didn't seem affected at all by this.

"Ha! That's not gunna work!" he said as he swatted Psyche away with the ninja half. The robot-girl staggered a bit when this happened.

"Ugh, wind doesn't work so well on this guy..." she muttered. "I'll have to do this the old fashioned way then. Psyche that's enough!" The Persona backed away from Shadow Yosuke and then dematerialized.

Shadow Yosuke laughed when this happened and turned to the robot-girl. "Done already? I'm disappointed!"

"Don't bet on it," responded the robot-girl as she raised her weapon and pointed it at him. "Hey, guy are you going to help or not?"

"Oh, right," replied Souji as if suddenly remembering that he needed to fight. Recalling that the Zio attack caused Shadow Yosuke trouble earlier, he used Izanagi to cast the spell again.

"Nargh!" Shouted Shadow Yosuke as he stumbled backwards and fell down. Seizing this chance, the Robot-girl and Souji both attacked him, the former with her weapon on the ninja half, and the latter with his as well as Izanagi on the frog part.

Hamuko watched as the pair seemed to finally have the upper hand on Shadow Yosuke, not realizing that the Shadows that had run away earlier from the robot-girl's appearance had returned.

"H-Hamuko-chan, look out!" warned Teddie as he was the first to notice this.

"?" She wheeled around to see that she was completely surrounded by several blob-like Shadows. "Ahh!" She couldn't help but let out a scream as she realized the predicament she was in.

"Senpai!" Souji turned to her and briefly halted his attack. The pause was enough to allow Shadow Yosuke to recover. The ninja half grabbed the robot-girl in its massive hands while the frog part rammed Izanagi into the nearby wall. This sent Souji staggering backwards as well. Shadow Yosuke wasn't finished either. He began to stomp on Izanagi, causing Souji to double over in pain. The ninja half began to squeeze the robot-girl, who gave out a cry of pain.

_A robot that feels pain?_ Hamuko thought it was rather odd to think about such a thing considering the predicament she was in. That thought didn't last long either as one of the Shadows that had closed in on her took a swipe at her with a blob-ish hand. Hamuko swung at it with her hockey stick to fend it off, but her weapon simply rebounded back at her and whacked her in the forehead.

"Ow..." she cried out.

"Aww, that was nothing," laughed Shadow Yosuke as he continued to attempt to crush the robot-girl. "How about this?"

He released another blast of wind that sent Hamuko flying into the wall behind her. She hit it hard and her handbag came open, spilling its contents on the floor, with her falling to her knees next to it.

"Ugh..." she tried to gather her bearings and saw that the Shadows that had surrounded her were now just a few feet away. Her hockey stick was nowhere to be seen and the only thing she had at hand was the Evoker that had fallen out of her handbag.

She quickly grabbed it and pointed it at the Shadows and shut her eyes. _What good is this going to do? _She frantically wondered as she tried to steady her shaking hands. _ Mitsuru-san said it wasn't real. It won't do anything. I'm..I'm going to die right here aren't I?_

It was then she felt the sudden urge to point it...at herself.

"H-hamuko-chan, what are you doing?" gasped Teddie when he saw her doing this.

As she pressed the barrel of the Evoker on the right side of her head, she could feel her pulse quickening, her breathing was heavier, and she was sweating profusely. She looked up and she felt a strange smile form on her lips, much like Souji had done outside the store. She opened her mouth and uttered a single word.

"Per..so...na." And pulled the trigger on the Evoker.

As soon as she did, it felt like her mind was simultaneously being torn apart and crushed inwards at the same time. A few seconds later, a large figure appeared in front of her, similar to Souji's and the robot-girl's Persona but different all the same. It was dressed in black riot police gear with the exception of its arms and hands, which were covered in bandages, as was the face. It reminded Hamuko of the patients in the burn ward of the hospital she was in. It wore a helmet, and long red hair streamed out form behind it. In its left hand it held a riot shield and in its right hand was a police baton.

"Janna D'arc!" Hamuko spoke the name that seemed to just come into her head. Looking at the Shadows ahead of her she willed her Persona to action. Bashing one with her shield and clubbing another with her baton, the Persona made short work of them. The other Shadows quickly crawled away, leaving just Shadow Yosuke to worry about.

"Wowee, your Persona is super cool, Hamuko-chan!" cheered Teddie. "Now go help Sensei and the girl!"

Hamuko nodded and willed Janna to attack Shadow Yosuke. The ground rumbled as Janna charged straight at Shadow Yosuke and rammed into him with her shield, causing him to reel back and off o f Izanagi as well as loosening his grip on the robot-girl, who managed to free herself and dropped to the ground.

Souji used the opportunity to recover and had Izanagi stand back up.

"Arg, get off me bitch!" fumed Shadow Yosuke as he struggled with Janna, who was pinning him against the wall with her shield.

"Souji-kun, hit him with that lightning attack!" shouted Hamuko as she struggled to keep her bearings while controlling her Persona.

Souji nodded and shouted "Zio!", causing Izanagi to send another lightning attack at Shadow Yosuke.

"S-stop it dammit!" shouted Shadow Yosuke as the lightning attack jolted him while still being pinned to the wall by Janna. The robot-girl didn't appear to hear his plea as she smashed the ninja half on the head with her weapon.

"N-nooo!" Shadow Yosuke squirmed a bit before falling onto the ground. As he did, a black smoke covered it.

By this time the real Yosuke had woken up and watched as Shadow Yosuke reverted back into its human form, who was now on one knee.

Exhausted, Souji and Hamuko dismissed their Personas and rejoined Yosuke as did Teddie from his hiding spot. The robot-girl walked off to a nearby wall and sat down.

"Are...you okay Yosuke-kun?" asked Hamuko, even though she herself didn't feel all that great.

Yosuke nodded weakly. "Yeah..I think so. What happened?" Before anyone could answer, Shadow Yosuke stood back up and silently stared at his counterpart.

Yosuke shook his head, still vainly trying to deny what the Shadow had said earlier.

"You're... not me," he said, without any conviction at all.

"Yosuke, that Shadow came from you," explained Teddie. "You have to accept it, or it might go out of control again."

"But, I..." Yosuke still didn't want to admit the fact that the Shadow wasn't lying and turned away from him.

Souji walked up to him. "You're still yourself, Yosuke. We don't think any less of you, right senpai?"

Hamuko nodded. "That's right. Yosuke-kun's still Yosuke-kun in my book."

"Still myself..." trailed Yosuke as he sighed, turning back to his Shadow. "Damn, it hurt to have to face yourself. Yeah I knew it was telling the truth, but...I was too ashamed to admit it. You're me... And I'm you. That's pretty much it huh? All of this...is me."

Shadow Yosuke nodded silently, and then disappeared. In his place was something that looked like a Persona. Hamuko was too tired to really get a good look at it though, and it too disappeared almost as soon as it appeared.

"So...this is my Persona," he said as he looked back at the others and shook his head. "You know, when we heard Saki-senpai's voice earlier...I wonder if that's what she had been keeping to herself all this time." He gave a bitter chuckle. " 'He was a pain in the ass' huh? Gee what an embarrassing way to find out. If you and senpai weren't here... I don't know what would have happened. Thanks, you guys."

Souji and Hamuko nodded.

"Well, it wasn't just us you know," trailed Hamuko as she pointed at the robot-girl, who was still sitting down and looking away from the group.

"Who is she?" asked Yosuke.

Souji shrugged. "I don't know. She just showed up in the middle of the fight."

Before anyone else could say anything, Teddie walked up to her.

"Um, hi," he said. "I'm Teddie. What's your name?"

The robot-girl looked at him, the visor still covering her face.

"...Metis," she said, with some hesitation. A moment later, the visor retracted to the top of her head, revealing a very human looking face.

"So who are you exactly?" asked Yosuke as he looked at her. "...Or what are you might be the better question."

"Yosuke-kun don't be rude!" fumed Hamuko as she smacked him on the back of his head.

"Hey, I was just saying what was on everyone's mind!" argued Yosuke. "I mean look at her. Is she a robot or something else?"

"...I don't know," said Metis as she looked back at the ground, a forlorn look on her face.

"But you can summon a Persona, and even know how to fight Shadows," Souji pointed out. "How come?"

Metis continued to stare at the ground. "I don't know how, I just can," she said. "Almost all of my memory data is damaged or corrupted. All I know is my name and how to fight Shadows, that's it."

"So in other words, you don't really know what you are huh?" asked Souji.

Metis nodded without saying anything.

"Hmm now what?" asked Yosuke.

Teddie thought for a moment before answering. "You guys all look pretty worn out. This place isn't meant for humans, so it can't be good for you all to stay here for such a long period of time. I think we should go back."

The rest of the group nodded and stood still Hamuko asked the obvious question.

"What about Metis?"

"?" Metis looked at the group quizzically.

"Why don't we take her with us to the entrance?" suggested Teddie. "It's gotta be better than staying here all alone, right?"

"All...Alone..." It was odd, but it seemed to Hamuko that Metis shivered slightly when she repeated those words.

Souji shrugged. "I don't mind. At least you'll have some company when we go back to our world, right?"

Hamuko nodded. "Plus she did help us out."

Yosuke also nodded in agreement. "I'm down with it."

"So how about it?" asked Teddie.

Metis slowly stood up and looked at the group for a moment before giving her response.

"...Okay."

…

The trip back to the entrance was a silent one, partly due to exhaustion and partly due to the fact that no one really wanted to bring up what had just happened. It wasn't until they had returned to the entrance that Yosuke spoke up.

"Hey Teddie, you said that this place is reality for those that enter here right? So the shopping district and the store, and that weird room we saw the other day, Did they exist because the people who died entered this world and it became their reality?"

Teddie shrugged. "I don't really know. It's the first time it's ever happened before. But it seems likely that's where they were when the Shadows attacked them. You know I sensed people here twice before. But both of them disappeared when the fog lifted. Also, the Shadows here are originally born from humans so that's why you saw one come out of you, and it was probably the same for them."

"So to recap," said Hamuko. "Saki, and the reporter lady were thrown in here. Since they were stuck here, they just wandered around here."

"Then after some time, one of those Shadow things came out them, like in my case," continued Yosuke. "The fog cleared and it went berserk and eventually killed them... Does that sound right to you guys?"

Souji nodded. "That being said, if you were here when the fog had lifted, we probably wouldn't have stood a chance against your Shadow."

"That's probably true," said Teddie. "Because the fog is still here, the Shadow wasn't at its full strength."

Yosuke let out an angry grunt. "So senpai and that announcer- they were stuck here all alone and with no one to help or save them!"

"That may be true, but until the fog lifted, they should have been safe," said Metis. "The Shadows shouldn't have attacked them."

"Huh, I was about to say that," said Teddie. "How come you know so much about the Shadows?"

Metis shook her head. "I don't know. I just...do."

"But wait, they attacked us," pointed out Hamuko. "And it's still foggy. So why?"

Teddie shrugged. "Maybe they're keeping an eye on us? Maybe they see us as enemies now because we were investigating. It'll probably be dangerous and scary but me might be able to fight them! We can save people too!"

"You mean if someone else gets thrown in here, we can save them before they die?" asked Yosuke. "Like how you all saved me?"

Teddie nodded.

"Well, good!" said Yosuke, his mood improving. "But we still need to find the person throwing people in here in the first place and make them stop."

"It is starting to make some sense..." said Hamuko.

"So, what about you Teddie?" asked Metis. "Where did you come from? I haven't heard much about you at all, just the humans."

Teddie looked at the ground for a moment before answering.

"You know, I was wondering that myself," he said. "I mean, I know some things- mostly about this world, but nothing about myself really. I really haven't given it any real thought until now. Maybe one of you guys have an idea?"

"How should we know?" asked Yosuke. "...At least now I know why we couldn't get a straight answer from you."

"Yeah...," sighed Teddie. "Oh, right. I should let you guys out huh? But...will you guys come back here?"

Hamuko nodded. "I know I will. We made a promise!"

Yosuke gave Teddie a smile. "Hey, you were the one who said you weren't letting us out unless we helped right?"

Teddie gave an enthusiastic nod. "Yeah, yeah that's right! Okay, I'll let you guys out, but there is one thing. I'll wait for you guys here. That means you have to enter this world from the same place every time so we can meet up."

"Oh, from the TV at Junes?" asked Hamuko.

"But why?" asked Souji.

"Well you could enter from another place, but you won't wind up here. You may just end up in a place where I can't get to you. Then you'd be doooooooomed. Okay?"

Yosuke nodded. "Pretty much, I guess.

"Wait about you Metis?" asked Souji.

The robot-girl shrugged. "I'll stay here with the bear. Maybe we can figure some things out while you all are gone." 

"Sounds okay by me," agreed Teddie. "Who can complain about having a cute girl keeping you company?"

"C-cute?" asked Metis as she quickly turned away from Teddie and the others.

"Okay, okay enough stalling, let's get you guys to the exit!" said Teddie. Like the last time, he stomped his foot on the ground and a series of small TVs appeared out of nowhere. The group then stood in front of them.

"Hmm, it's probably a good idea to make sure none of the employees are standing around out there.." mused Yosuke.

"Yeah, I'm not sure how we'd expl-" Souji began. His sentence was suddenly cut short as Teddie shoved him and the other two through the TVs.

"Was that necessary?" asked Metis as she watched Teddie finish shoving Yosuke through.

Teddie shook his head. "Nope! But it sure is fun to do! Hee hee!"


	12. Chapter 12

**Junes**

"Waaaaa!"

After being unceremoniously pushed out of the TV world, the group found themselves in the Junes Electronics Department, sprawled out on the floor.

"Do we have to go through like that every time?" sighed Hamuko as she stood up and dusted herself off. The other two didn't have a chance to answer her as Chie suddenly made herself known.

"Y-you guys came back!" she cried. "Ohmygosh!

"Yeah, we're back," said Yosuke. "Jeez what's with that face you're making?"

"!" Chie answered by throwing the remains of the rope she had held at Yosuke's head. "I can't believe you guys; you're such jerks!"

"Hey, waitasec Chie," said Souji, trying to get her to calm down.

"Don't 'waitasec Chie' me, Souji-kun!" fumed Chie as she waved her arms furiously around. "The rope broke off, and I didn't know what to do! I was really worried... I mean super scared! I hate all three of you!"

"Chie, wait!" Hamuko said as she watched Chie suddenly run off.

Yosuke let out a dejected sigh. "Let her go senpai. Besides it **is** our fault when you think about it. I guess we went a little too far?"

Souji let out a sigh of his own. "Yeah. I guess we'll apologize to her later if we see her again today."

"If not, there's always tomorrow," added Hamuko.

Yosuke nodded. "Yeah I think that's for the best. Besides, I'm totally worn out. I'm gunna go home and take a long ass shower and go to bed." He paused for a moment before finishing. "I think...I'll sleep well tonight."

Hamuko waved goodbye to him. "Okay, I'll see you tomorrow then, Yosuke-kun."

"Later, senpai, Souji."

After Yosuke left, Hamuko found herself standing with Souji without really anything to say.

"Well, that was all pretty...interesting, huh Souji-kun?" she finally said.

Souji nodded. "Yeah. But...The whole thing with Personas, not to mention what you did to call yours out..."

_The Evoker. That's right, I...shot myself with it to make my Persona come out. But how did it happen?_

"Hey, I'm pretty worn out, Souji-kun," she said as she looked downwards. "Do you mind if we go to the food court and get something to drink and sit for a bit?"

Souji nodded. "Good idea. I'm pretty winded myself. It's probably still raining though."

Hamuko shrugged. "So, we'll just cool off faster then. Our umbrellas are still sitting here anyway. Let's go, let's go~"

Souji relented and followed her to the elevators. Upon arriving at the at the food court on the roof of Junes, it turned that it was indeed raining. The two of them quickly bought a melon soda for themselves and rushed to the nearest table that was covered. It was one of the long picnic table style tables and it just so happened that that it was occupied at the opposite end by two familiar people.

"Well, well, Hamuko-chan~" said Iris as she looked over at the pair from her end. "Already found a guy, have you? You move pretty fast! I didn't peg you for that type."

"I-iris?" gasped Hamuko. "What are you doing here? A-and it's not like that!"

Iris giggled before responding. "I know, I know; you were with him and some others earlier right?"

Hamuko nodded. She then noticed a man sitting across the table from Iris. She recognized him as the detective that spoke to her and the others on her first day at school. Detective Dojima was his name if her memory served right.

"Good grief, Ryo-kun say something to them!" sighed Iris as she noticed her companion's silence.

"Oh, uh right," sighed the man. "So what brings you two here Souji?"

"Just looking around," replied Souji. "We're taking a break right now."

Iris' face brightened even more when she heard mention of Souji's name.

"This is your nephew, Ryo-kun?" she asked as she stood up and walked to the pair.

"That's right," replied Dojima as he took a sip of coffee from the cup that was in front of him. "I'm sure I mentioned him a few times to you, Ayame."

"So you're Miki's boy huh?," said Iris as she inspected Souji, adjusting the sunglasses that were atop her head as she did so. "Well, I should have noticed sooner; you look just like her!"

"You know my mother?" asked Souji as he looked up at her.

"Course I do!" beamed Iris as her smile only got wider. "She's your uncle's big sister after all. It's only natural that I'd know her."

"Uh, how so?" asked Hamuko. "I feel like I'm missing something here."

"Me too," said Souji after setting down his drank.

"Whaaaaaat?" Iris let out a long sigh before turning to Dojima. "You didn't tell Souji-kun about me, Ryo-kun?"

"Well, ah no," sighed Dojima as he grabbed a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. "I haven't been home a lot lately, Ayame. These cases have really had us slammed at the station. I even have Adachi doing all the paperwork over there now; that's how busy we are."

Iris let out a dejected sigh. "Yeah, yeah. Sorry, guess I got a bit carried away huh? Anyway, as to your earlier question, your uncle and I have been best friends since...well ever!"

"Really? I would never have guessed," said Souji as he scratched his head. "The two of you don't seem similar at all."

"We're not," said Dojima with a nod as he lit up a cigarette. "Somehow it just worked out that way."

"Jeez, you make it sound like it's a bad thing," replied Iris as she returned to her seat.

_Childhood friends huh? I guess that's why she lets Dojima-san use her real name without any fuss. Plus, I don't think he would let anyone else call him 'Ryo-kun' either. _Hamuko took a drink of her soda as she pondered the two adults' relationship.

"So how are you guys holding out after the...news of what happened?" asked Iris after a few moments of silence. "I know it must be hard to take and all that..."

"It's still a bit of a shock," replied Hamuko as she looked at the ground. "I mean I just met Saki a few days ago and now she..."

"We'll find out who's behind this," said Dojima as he finished his cigarette. "I just hope this doesn't skew your view of Inaba... This sort of thing is simply not normal for this town."

Hamuko shook her head. "No, no I like it here. I mean it is a little shocking about what happened but... everything will work out, I'm sure of it."

Dojima let out a sigh of relief as did Iris.

"I'm glad to hear that," he said. "It would have been unfortunate if you had begun to get the wrong idea about this place."

Iris nodded. "These cases aren't anything for you guys to worry about anyway. Just leave it to Ryo-kun and me!"

"Eh, I'd rather not have you involved too much either Ayame," sighed Dojima.

Iris shot him an annoyed look. "Hey, this is important to me too! You know I'm serious when it comes to work, especially when it has to do with home."

It was then that Hamuko suddenly yawned a bit louder than she would have preferred, causing everyone at the table to suddenly stare at her.

"Hmm? You getting sleepy already?" asked Iris, tilting her head at Hamuko. "You do look kinda worn down a bit."

Hamuko gave a nervous laugh as she clutched her soda can. "Yeah, I guess I am. It's been a tough day ."

"Why don't we just call it a day then, senpai?" suggested Souji. "To be honest I'm pretty tired myself."

Hamuko nodded. "Okay, sounds good. We should probably leave Iris and Dojima-san to their work anyway."

"Well, you two be safe then," said Dojima as he looked down at some of Iris' notes. "Oh, tell Nanako I probably won't be home tonight. No point waiting to make dinner for me if I'm not going to be home right?"

"Will do," said Souji as he and Hamuko stood up.

Hamuko waved goodbye to Iris and Dojima and followed Souji as the two of them hurried past the rain to the elevator.

It was a quiet ride to the first floor, save for the Junes theme playing through the speaker. It wasn't until the pair left Junes that Hamuko finally broke the silence.

"So Souji-kun, who's Nanako?"

"Oh, she's my little cousin," said Souji as the two continued to walk. "She's my uncle's daughter and she's in first grade. I guess I forgot to mention her to you huh?"

Hamuko shrugged, expecting this Nanako person to be Dojima's wife or something. "It's not a big deal, really."

Another moment of awkward silence fell over the pair as they continued to walk. Eventually they reached the crosswalk where Hamuko would normally have split off to go home. However she continued to follow Souji, who noticed this.

"Uh, senpai, aren't you going home?" he asked.

Hamuko shook her head. "I haven't actually been down this way yet. I would like to see the Samegawa River past this one area, I guess."

Souji nodded. "Well, I guess that makes sense now that I think about it. Are you sure you're up for it though?"

Hamuko smiled and nodded. "I'll be okay. Plus the sound of the rain will help clear my head after everything that's happened."

The road that ran parallel to the river was empty, no cars or pedestrians to speak of. It's emptiness matched the quiet mood that had settled over the pair as they walked; neither one of them wanting to bring up the subject of the TV world or what had happened. They seemed contented to walk in silence and take in the view. After six minutes of this, they spotted a familiar looking girl in a pink kimono and red umbrella sitting underneath a covered picnic table.

"Hey, isn't that Yukiko?" asked Hamuko.

Souji looked at the girl and nodded. "Yeah, I think so, but why is she dressed like that?"

"Let's go find out!" said Hamuko as she led Souji towards Yukiko. "She looks kind of lonely anyway."

Yukiko looked up as the pair approached her and gave them a surprised look.

"Oh, uh hello!" she said as the two joined her at the table. "I didn't expect to see you two here..."

"Guess we got lucky then?" said Souji. "Senpai and I just got back from Junes."

"Oh r-really?" asked Yukiko. "Just the two of you?"

Hamuko quickly shook her head. "No, no, no Yosuke-kun and Chie were with us too. They, uh just left before we did."

"Oh, I see," said Yukiko. "Well, I guess you guys are wondering why I'm dressed like this huh? I was actually running errands for my parents, and this is what I wear when I'm working at the Inn. I just finished up and was resting here when you two came."

"Oh, okay," said Hamuko. "For a second there I thought that's how you always dressed outside of school."

Yukiko chuckled. "No, no. It's just work-related. So what about you guys? Are you getting used to Inaba?"

Souji nodded. "Yeah. It's a really nice place."

"It's taking me a bit longer," said Hamuko. "But I'll get used to it, I think. You guys as well as Iris have really been a big help."

Yukiko gave a relieved sigh. "That's good. I'm glad to hear that. I've never been outside of Inaba, so I couldn't imagine what it's like to transfer to a new school or anything like that."

Souji shrugged. "Personally I think that's a good thing. I don't know what it's like to stay in one place for long."

"As for me well..." trailed Hamuko as she rubbed the back of her head.

"Oh, no, I'm sorry," said Yukiko. "I didn't mean to bring up unpleasant memories."

"It's okay," said Hamuko. "I'm starting to get used to it."

Yukiko tried to come up with something else to say, but when she glanced at her watch she abandoned the attempt.

"Hmm, I guess I should be heading back to the Inn," she said. "I still have things to do there, and I don't want to be too late."

"Do you mind if I go with you?" asked Hamuko. "I should be heading back home anyway."

Yukiko nodded. "Sure, I don't mind. Takao-san actually left to go home when I left, so you'll actually get to see him for a change."

Souji stood up. "Well, I'll be heading home myself then. See you two at school."

Hamuko waved goodbye to him and began walking back with Yukiko.

"So what's it like living with Ayame-san?" asked Yukiko after a few minutes. "Living with a famous reporter's got to be pretty cool I bet."

Hamuko thought for a moment. "I really don't see much of Iris to be honest. Other than when I first get up, she generally is gone all day. She's a pretty cool person though when I am with her, almost like a big sister. She never really brings up how famous she is."

Yukiko nodded. "Yeah, she always came off like that to me too. Really cool and all that. When she did visit, it was hard to believe she was this famous reporter; she always acted like anyone else in the town. I'm glad to know it wasn't all just an act."

Hamuko smiled. "Yeah, I think the Iris we see is the real deal."

"Oh and I apologize about Takao-san," added Yukiko as she adjusted her umbrella. "I realize we've been hogging him a lot lately. It just that we have been so overburdened at the Inn..."

Hamuko shook her head. "It's okay, I understand. Work is work, right?"

"Well, yes, I guess so, " replied Yukiko. "He does a lot to help out when the staff and myself get overburdened with guests. Thanks to all the attention these cases have brought to Inaba, our business is far busier than usual for this time of year, and we really weren't prepared for it."

"I see..." trailed Hamuko. _I guess her family's Inn really is as famous as everyone says it is..._

"Well, hopefully everything will work out," sighed Yukiko. "But I think I've vented enough to you about my problems for now. That's usually Chie's job you know."

"Oh, I thought it was to beat up Yosuke as much as possible from what I've seen," said Hamuko with a chuckle.

Yukiko chuckled. "Yes, that too. You'd almost think he likes it, it's happened so much."

The two girls stopped at the crosswalk, marking the end of their walk together.

"Well, I guess this is it," said Yukiko. "It was nice talking with you Senpai."

"Yeah same here," nodded Hamuko. "See you at school tomorrow?"

Yukiko thought for a moment before answering.

"I'm not sure; it really does depend on how busy we are. If I'm not at school tomorrow that's why- so make sure Chie doesn't panic if you can..."

"Well, I'll try," trailed Hamuko. _Would Chie really freak out over that? I guess Yukiko would know..._

Yukiko waved goodbye and headed towards the direction of the Inn, leaving Hamuko to herself for the first time since arriving at school.

As she walked back to her house, she kept thinking back to what had happened in the TV world and how it seemed completely impossible for such tings to have happened...And yet they did. Should she talk to Mitsuru about this? There was no way that the Evoker accidentally did what it did, but still... Her thoughts continued as she walked along the damp sidewalk, the rain bouncing off her umbrella.

She let out a sigh as the house finally came into view. She was tired and in all honesty should have gone straight home instead of the side-trek along the Samegawa River. After opening the door and putting her umbrella away, she saw Takao sitting down at the table, drinking a cup of coffee.

"Ah, Hamuko-chan," he said as he looked up at her. "Welcome home."

"Hello Takao-san," said Hamuko as she took a seat from the other side of the table. "Yukiko said they finally let you come home."

Takao chuckled. "That they did. They're running themselves ragged with the sudden amount of business they've gotten. I guess I'm no exception."

Hamuko nodded. "Yukiko said as much. Even she was looking a bit worn down."

"The poor girl works the hardest out of any of us," sighed Takao as he took another sip of coffee. "But it is unfortunately expected; she's going to be taking over the Inn in the future after all."

He paused to take another sip of coffee before pointing out a package on the table.

"Ah yes, Mitsuru sent you something it seems."

"?" Hamuko took the package and began opening it. "A... cell phone?" She held out the device for Takao to see.

Takao nodded. "That's almost an essential item for you young ones these days. Mitsuru was wise to think to send you this."

Hamuko checked the box to find that there was a charger and an instruction book, the latter a big relief to her. _Good thing that's there...I'd feel too embarrassed to ask how to use this thing..._

She suddenly gave another unintended loud yawn, garnering a somewhat amused look from Takao.

"Long day, Hamuko-chan?" he asked.

"Something like that," said Hamuko as she sunk lower into her chair from embarrassment. "It was a lot busier than I had expected."

Takao took another sip of his coffee before responding. "Getting adjusted to a new area does take time. It may be wise to take it a bit slower so you don't wear yourself out. Staying out so late might not be such a good idea in the future."

"?" Hamuko looked at the clock that was on the wall. _7:30? _She was really gone for so long? She didn't think it had been that late, that her tiredness was just from undue stress as well as what happened in the TV world. At least now it made a little bit of sense. "Oh wow, I had no idea... That sure explains it."

"Perhaps you should turn in early," suggested Takao. "Otherwise you might not feel any better come tomorrow."

Hamuko stifled another yawn before nodding. "I think you're right, Takao-san. It's just that I feel bad for not being able to talk to you more..."

Takao chuckled at the comment. "Don't worry Hamuko-chan, I'm sure you'll see enough of me in the coming year to catch up so to speak. Now off you go!"

Hamuko stood up and gave a quick bow to Takao before taking the cell phone box and the rest of her things and went up to her room.

Hamuko changed into her pajamas and laid down on her futon. It had been a terribly long day with so much that had happened. Takao-san was right. Rest is what she needed, and sleep came quickly enough for her.

**Midnight**

The bright lights of the TV in her room was enough to rouse Hamuko from her slumber, much to her chagrin.

"Why is that on..." she groaned as she stumbled out of bed and approached the TV. "Ugh..." Her hand reached for the power button but stopped when she saw the blurry image of someone on the screen.

_What's this_? She wondered as she stared at the screen. _Or rather, who is this?It must be the Midnight Channel..._

She looked at the screen and saw that there was a young woman that was wearing what might have been a kimono. Was it someone she knew? _But this is Japan... Girls wearing kimono's aren't all that super rare..._ Before she could think any further on it, the image disappeared. _I'd better talk to the others about this tomorrow. I'd better go back to sleep..._ And she did just that.


	13. Chapter 13

**?**

Hamuko awoke to find herself sitting inside the strange blue-lit limousine that she had been in during her dream when she was on the train. In front of her sat the man who called himself Igor and next to him was Margaret, his assistant.

"Um..." Hamuko fidgeted in her seat a little bit, not knowing what was going on.

"Welcome," said Igor, the smile on his face unchanging. "Do not be alarmed. You are fast asleep in the real world..."

"A dream?" asked Hamuko as she rubbed her head. "Again?"

Igor nodded. "I have indeed summoned both you and your friend within your dreams."

"Friend?" Hamuko looked next to her to see that Souji was sitting a few feet away from her. "Oh!"

"Can't say this isn't weird at all huh Senpai?" said Souji. "I don't get it either."

"And we meet once again," said Igor as he looked on the confused pair.

"Oh, okay," trailed Hamuko. "Um... Why?"

Margaret cleared her throat before responding. "This is a space that only those who have entered a contract may enter. During your daily life, you subconsciously heard the call to awaken, and you chose to follow that destiny. And in so doing, enabled the glorious awakening to both of your powers."

With a wave of Igor's hand two blue keys appeared in front of him and they each floated towards Hamuko and Souji. The two of them reached out and grabbed the key in front of them.

"Hold on to those," said Igor. "From today forth you two are our guests in this Velvet Room. Your destinies will require you to master your power, and to do that you will need our help. We only require that you abide your contract and accept responsibility for any decisions you may make."

"Wha?" asked Hamuko as she clutched her Velvet Key. "I don't get it."

"I'm not sure I do either," admitted Souji.

"That is fine for now," said Igor, his expression unchanging. "The personas that each of you acquired is essentially a side of yourselves that shows itself when you face the world around you."

"Okay..." said Hamuko. "So those things that came out of us when we fought those Shadow things... That's what the Personas were? A part of us?"

Igor nodded. "That is correct. Your Persona's abilities, though, are that of the wild card... Compared to most others, it is very rare and special indeed..."

"Wild card..." Souji began thinking on the subject.

"Think of it as the number zero," explained Igor. "It is empty yet it holds infinite potential within itself."

"Aww..." sighed Hamuko as she rubbed the back of her head. "So confusing..."

Igor paused for a moment before motioning his right hand over the small table in front of him. A small multitude of cards appeared and levitated above it. With another motion of his hand, the cards floated to Hamuko and Souji and began to float around the pair.

"The power to control one's heart is the ability of the Persona. And the heart is strengthened through bonds, you see," explained Igor. "Those bonds are called 'Social Links' and they will develop as you two become involved with others."

"Social Links?" Hamuko reached out for a card and held it in her hands. There was a symbol of a man with a sack on his back being chased by a dog on the background. For some reason she knew that it meant the Arcana of The Fool. A moment later the image of Souji's face appeared on it.

"Oh!" Hamuko and Souji simultaneously reacted, as the card Souji had been looking at, The World Arcana, suddenly had Hamuko's image appear on it at the same time Hamuko saw Souji's image.

"S-so we already have a bond with each other?" asked Hamuko as she and Souji showed their cards to each other.

Igor nodded as he watched the pair exchange the cards they had with each other.

"So this is a Social Link..." said Souji as he looked at the card with his image on it. The image, however, quickly faded to reveal only the background of The Fool. "?"

"Huh?" Hamuko witnessed a similar reaction with her card, as her image faded away to show only background of The World. "Hey what gives, Igor?"

"Your Social Links are not all the same," explained Margaret as she looked at the confused pair. "Some will intersect, of course, but others may run parallel or completely separate from each other."

"So Souji's 'World' Social Link is me... But my World Social link is not myself so that's why my image faded when I held the card..." said Hamuko.

"And why mine faded when I held the one you gave me," added Souji.

"You, of course, cannot make a Social Link with yourself," chuckled Igor. "By creating and strengthening your Social Links, you will strengthen your Personas as well as yourselves."

Hamuko's heart sank a little bit when she heard that. Bad enough that weird stuff had begun happening around her, but now she had to make an effort to meet even more new people... It wasn't something she was looking forward to.

"I should add that Social Links are not just for empowering your Personas," said Margaret. "There will be times that they will help light the way to the truth you two are searching for."

Before Hamuko or Souji could respond, Igor chuckled and gave a motion with his hand again. Suddenly, Hamuko's vision began to fade.

"Where will your awakened powers take you I wonder," said Igor as he faded from Hamuko's sight. "I look forward to finding out. Till we meet again!"

**April 16th**- **Early Morning**

"Ungh..." Hamuko groaned as she woke up. "I can't even escape the weirdness when I go to sleep. Still, I wonder if Souji-kun really had the same dream. I'll ask him when I see him again."

After getting herself ready for school, Hamuko went downstairs to be greeted with the usual ritual of fried eggs and toast courtesy of Iris. Takao was also at the table, drinking coffee and reading a newspaper.

"Wow, you look beat," said Iris when Hamuko appeared. "Did you not sleep well?"

Hamuko nodded. "Something like that. I'll be okay once I get some food in me I think."

Hamuko quietly ate her meal as she listened to Iris and Takao talk about a few random subjects. Her mind was mostly focused on the image of the person that appeared on the TV last night as well as her most recent dream. Before she knew it she had finished eating and stood up.

"Leaving already?" asked Takao. "It seems a bit early don't you think?"

"Yeah, I kinda feel like exploring the school this morning," said Hamuko as she gathered her school items and handbag.

"Huh, well have fun then," said Iris. "Try not to wear yourself out too much okay? Oh, and don't forget your umbrella! It's supposed to rain later today!"

About twenty minutes later, Hamuko found herself waiting at the crossroads, hoping that Souji wasn't already at school. To her relief, she saw him approaching on the right side as he usually would have.

"Oh, hey Senpai," he said as he walked up to her.

"H-hi Souji-kun," said Hamuko with a short wave.

An awkward silence quickly fell over the both of them as they looked at the ground.

"Okay, I'll be the one to ask," Souji finally said. "Did you have any kind strange dreams last night?"

"Yeah, I did," said Hamuko. "You...were in it too..."

"It's the same with me then," nodded Souji. "Man, I don't know what's going on anymore Senpai."

"Well that makes two of us," said Hamuko. "Wild Cards and Social Links and whatnot. As if that freaky TV world wasn't bad enough. Still, we can't just ignore it."

Souji nodded, but before he could say anything, a bicycle bell sounded and Yosuke rode up to the pair.

"Hey guys!" he said as he hopped off his bike. "Did you two see what was on the TV last night?"

"Oh I almost forgot about that!" said Hamuko. "I saw another girl, but this one had on a kimono. I didn't recognize her though."

"Same here," said Souji.

"So we all saw it then," said Yosuke. "But now that someone else has shown up on TV, we can't just ignore it."

"Should we go ask Teddie about it after school?" asked Hamuko. "Maybe he could tell us if someone's in there. Metis might know too."

"Metis? Oh the robot girl. Good idea," nodded Yosuke. "If someone else was thrown in, that means there really is a culprit behind all this. And if they know it's the world that kills the person thrown in, it's still unforgivable. So we need to find the culprit, no matter what!"

"H-hey hang on a sec," said Hamuko. "Shouldn't we leave that to the police?"

"I don't think they would believe it even if we did tell them what we know," sighed Souji.

"Exactly," nodded Yosuke. "Who'd believe that someone is killing people by throwing them into TVs?"

"So it has to be us," said Souji. 

"And we did promise that bear too," added Hamuko.

"Alright, so that's settled. Oh yeah, I tried sticking my hand into the TV last night like you two did," added Yosuke. "And it actually worked! Maybe it's because I have that 'Persona' power? Maybe someone gave us this power so that we could solve this case?"

"Maybe..." said Hamuko.

"Then again you and Souji were able to go into the TV and get your Personas first," said Yosuke. "Although the way you did it, Senpai was kinda... Ah never mind. It doesn't matter- as long as you two are with me I feel like we can crack this case wide open!"

"Yeah!" said Hamuko, genuinely feeling good about it. It was then that she heard a voice in her head. "_Thou art I... And I am Thou... Thou hast established a new bond... It brings thee closer to the truth... Thou shalt be blessed when creating Personas of the Magician Arcana..._

It was confusing at first for Hamuko but she recalled Igor's words from her dream. _Strengthening through bonds... A Social Link? _She did feel a very faint bond form when she agreed with Yosuke.

"Yo, snap out of it guys," said Yosuke as he looked at his two apparently spaced-out friends.

"Oh sorry, kind of drifted for a second there," said Souji.

"M-me too," added Hamuko. _So Souji-kun must have had the same thing happen to him just now._

"Okay let's hurry to school before we're late!" said Yosuke. "I don't want to give King Moron any more reason to yell at me."

**After School**

Hamuko did her best to pay attention her teachers' lectures, but the recent events made it difficult for her to focus. Although she was called on once to answer a question, Hamuko was fortunate enough to know that Antarctica didn't belong to any country, thus sparing her any embarrassment. Fortunately she managed to get through the day without any real difficulties, and wasted no time meeting her friends on the first floor when the end of school bell had rung.

"Oh hey Senpai," Chie greeted Hamuko as she left the stairs. "Yosuke filled me in on what was going on so I'll go to Junes too."

"We sorta thought it might've been Yukiko earlier Senpai, but Chie called her up and she answered so that wasn't it," said Souji.

"Yeah you guys totally freaked me out when you said Yukiko might've have been thrown in!" fumed Chie.

"Uh, anyway let's not waste any more time," interjected Yosuke, trying to calm Chie down. "Let's go to Junes."

The walk to Junes was a soggy one, as the rain had indeed returned as Iris had told Hamuko it would, and she was thankful to have heeded Iris' advice and taken her umbrella.

Once there, the group made their way to the Electronics Department, where they filled Chie in on the details of what had happened the day before inside the TV world.

"Uh, okay that's enough about my lame experience," sighed Yosuke after Souji had finished.

"Still, I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't been in there myself," said Chie.

Yosuke shrugged. "True enough. But we still need to know what's been going on inside." He looked around and saw that there were a few customers scattered throughout the area. "I'm sure Teddie or Metis knows, but there's a lot of customers around now. I forgot there was a sale going on today."

"Maybe we could form a wall around Souji-kun and see if he can call one of them over?" suggested Hamuko.

"Yeah, good idea, senpai!" said Yosuke as he and the others did so. Souji put his hand inside the TV and a moment later winced and quickly drew his hand back out.

"That beat bit me!" he said. "I don't believe it..."

"Hey bear, I know you're in there!" hissed Chie.

"Righto," said Teddie's voice from the other side. "Are we playing a game?"

"No, you stupid bear!" fumed Yosuke. "Can you sense anyone else in there right now?"

"The only other person in here is Metis," replied Teddie. "We haven't had any other people come in, right Meti-chan?"

An angry grumble could be heard before Metis gave her reply. "I told you not to call me that! I swear you have cotton in your ears or something... Anyway, my sensors haven't detected anyone entering this world."

"So you guys are sure no one else is inside?" asked Chie.

"That's what we said," replied Teddie from the TV. "My nose is working perfectly so there's no way anyone would have gotten without me noticing."

Chie took a moment to digest the situation before turning to leave. "W-well I'd better go warn Yukiko anyway. She's be super busy at the Inn this weekend, so I don't think she'd go anywhere by herself, but it still doesn't hurt to be cautious."

"Smart thinking," nodded Yosuke. "You'll be going to school together on Monday right?"

"Yeah, that's my plan anyway," said Chie. "And Senpai could too, if she's not too late."

"Aww that was just one day!" huffed Hamuko, recalling the day she had to run to make it to school on time. The reaction was enough to get a small chuckle out of the group.

"Still, we should all watch the Midnight Channel tonight, just to be sure," said Souji. "We might see something that could give us a better idea of who we saw."

"Or hope nothing at all shows up," sighed Chie. "I wouldn't be disappointed if that happened. Well, I'd going to head out to Yukiko's now- you wanna come with Senpai?"

"To the Inn?" Hamuko was interested to see what kind of place it was, plus two people warning Yukiko about being kidnapped might be taken more seriously by her. "Sure, I'll come."

"Okay then, I'll see you guys later," said Yosuke as he waved goodbye to the girls. "Don't forget to watch!"

Unfortunately for Chie and Hamuko, the rain had not let up during their time inside Junes. At least they had their umbrellas, so they would be able to stay mostly dry during their trek to the Amagi Inn.

"Man this is so crazy, Senpai," sighed Chie as she walked alongside Hamuko up the road that lead to the Amagi Inn. "To think some sicko out there wants to kidnap Yukiko and, and..."

Hamuko went to put her hand on Chie's shoulder to reassure her before responding. "She'll be fine, Chie, don't worry."

"Oh you should seen me earlier in class this morning," replied Chie as she put a hand to her forehead. "I was literally shouting 'Yukiko's missing! Yukiko's missing!' to Yosuke and Souji-kun when she hadn't answered my calls last night or before I had gone to school."

"I didn't know about that," gasped Hamuko. "Are you sure she's okay now?"

Chie nodded. "Yeah, I forgot she was probably working at the Inn, so her cell phone wouldn't be with her. When I called the front desk, she answered."

"Well, that's a relief," said Hamuko, letting out a relieved exhale of her own. "Let's hope she takes us seriously though. I'm kind of afraid she'd think we're crazy for thinking someone wants to kidnap her.

"Well she knows when I'm serious about stuff, so I don't think she'll entirely blow us off," said Chie. "Although I wouldn't blame her if she did."

After a few more minutes of walking, the pair arrived at the Amagi Inn. Chie lead Hamuko inside, and the two were quickly greeted by Yukiko, who was decked out in a pink kimono.

"Welcome to the Amagi Inn- oh it you guys!" Yukiko was quite surprised to see the two girls there, but she was happy to see them nonetheless. "What are you doing here?"

"We just felt like dropping by," said Chie as she and Hamuko closed their umbrellas. "To...see how you were doing- right Senpai?"

Hamuko quickly received a nudge from Chie, prompting her to agree with Chie's reason.

"T-that's right! Chie told me how busy you've been so, uh, I said we should come see you after school!" Hamuko quickly felt embarrassed at how lame she must have sounded at the moment.

Yukiko gave a small chuckle. "Well, I'm fine, as you can see. A little tired, but fine."

"That's...good," said Chie, trying to figure out how to tell Yukiko what she wanted to. It wasn't the easiest subject to segue into, no matter how one approached it.

Yukiko noticed the two girls' apparent uneasiness and chose to address it. "What's going on with you two? Did something happen?"

"Oh, uh no," said Hamuko as she stared at the floor. "It's nothing bad..."

"Ugh, let's just get this over with!" grumbled Chie. "We gotta tell her before it's too late!"

"Tell me what?" asked Yukiko. Her eyes suddenly widened as an idea popped into her head. "Oh my goodness, are you two... dating?"

"What?! No!" shrieked Hamuko and Chie, shocked that Yukiko could somehow come to that conclusion.

"Look, Yukiko, have you seen any weird or suspicious people around the Inn lately?" asked Chie, her face still red after hearing her best friend come up with her conclusion.

"Strange?" Yukiko thought for a moment before shaking her head. "The customers here are just your average tourists. There's been a few news and magazine reporters around, but nothing I'd call weird. You two would definitely be the weirdest people I've seen today, with how you've been acting."

"I'm not sure if I should be relieved or ashamed..." trailed Hamuko.

"Well, we just wanted to make sure everything was okay," said Chie. "You're not going out alone anytime soon are you?"

"...No?" Yukiko seemed just as confused now as she was before. "The Inn is fully stocked for now. I don't I'll need to go into town at all this weekend. Why do you ask?"

"We're just worried about you is all," explained Hamuko. "With the murder and all..."

Yukiko's face lit up as she finally figured it out. "Oh, **that's** why you're all nervous! Well, the staff's been telling me the same thing, so I've kinda been on the lookout for weirdos and strange people."

"O-oh, really?" said Chie, feeling a bit embarrassed. "Well, that's good! Can't be too careful!"

Yukiko nodded. "If I see someone strange hanging around, you'll be the first to know Chie." She opened her mouth to say something else, but before she could, the door opened behind them to reveal a man and woman who were obviously tourists.

"Well, we'd better let you back to work," said Chie, as she lead Hamuko towards the door. "See you Monday!"

Yukiko nodded and waved goodbye as the two left the Inn. Once outside, Chie let out a frustrated groan.

"Ugh I sounded so **stupid**! I should have known the Inn's staff would be looking out for her too!"

"Still it doesn't hurt to be careful," said Hamuko as she opened her umbrella. "And she did take us seriously- that's got to count for something."

Chie gave a resigned sigh as she opened her umbrella and walked down the road away from the Inn. "Yeah I guess you're right. It's a little relieving to know we aren't the only ones worried about her."

The two continued down the path in silence before stopping at the crossroads that would separate them.

"Well, I guess this is where we part ways Senpai," said Chie as she looked at Hamuko before a light bulb went off in her head. "Hey, why don't we exchange cell phone numbers? If we see something on the Midnight Channel tonight, we can let each other know that way!"

"That sounds like a good idea," said Hamuko as she reached into her handbag and retrieved her phone. However, when she opened it, it was quite clear she didn't know how to use it.

"Um, what's up Senpai" asked Chie, noticing her friend's confused expression.

"Well, I, uh...don't know how to use this," said Hamuko with a sheepish expression.

"Huh? Oh, that's right. Hang on a sec, lemme show you how to work this thing..." Chie took Hamuko's phone and demonstrated how to operate the basic functions of her cell phone, as well as how to add other people's numbers.

"Oh, that's not too hard," said Hamuko as Chie handed her phone back her. "I can remember all that, no prob."

"Well, if there's anything else you want to know about that phone, let me know," said Chie. "Although I have to say that's an expensive model- there might be a few things that are new to me."

"Thanks," said Hamuko as she watched Chie enter some information into her own cell phone.

"Well, I've your cell phone number added, so that's that!" said Chie as she put away her cell phone. "So, I guess that's it for today Senpai. I'll see you later!"

"Bye, Chie! See you later!" As Chie began to walk away, she once again heard a voice in her head.

"_Thou art I... And I am Thou... Thou hast established a new bond... It brings thee closer to the truth... Thou shalt be blessed when creating Personas of the __Chariot__ Arcana..."_

A new Social Link? This would be the first time she would have forged one without Souji. While she wanted to think on what had just happened more, she heard a familiar voice calling out to her.

"Hamuuuukoooo!" shouted Iris from the other side of the crosswalk. She quickly crossed the road and met up with her housemate. "Good lord, girl what are ya doing in the rain by yourself?"

"Oh, uh I was at Junes with some friends earlier, and I'm just now getting back," said Hamuko, not wanting to tell her about trip to the Amagi Inn.

"That so?" said Iris as she and Hamuko began walking back to their house. "Shame this town doesn't have more places for kids to hang out than a department store, but then again it's not such a bad place."

"I think it's pretty cool," said Hamuko with an agreeing nod. "And I still haven't seen everything that store has to offer."

Iris laughed at this. "Well, it'll probably take a whole afternoon if you wanted to do that. I was there myself actually. Got some groceries for dinner tonight." She gestured towards the bags in her right hand.

"Oh, I didn't know there was a grocery section to Junes!" said Hamuko. "I've kinda been in the Electronics section as of late."

"Well of course you would," said Iris. "All this new high-tech stuff is new to ya, so I'm sure you'd want to see it all."

The two continued talking as they walked to the house.

"Well, I'll be making dinner, so you don't have to worry about helping me or anything," said Iris as the two walked inside. "Go study or whatever you feel like doing."

Hamuko nodded and put her umbrella away. After she took off her shoes she went upstairs.

–

**Evening – Near Midnight**

Iris' dinner was quite good- Hamuko never had Chinese food before, and if Iris' version of it was true to form, it was not something she'd get tired of anytime soon.

The rest of the evening was spent studying, until midnight was almost upon her. Hamuko switched off the TV and watched as the seconds ticked by until it had become midnight.

When it did, the TV turned on and what happened next was nothing that Hamuko could prepare for.

The television clearly showed Yukiko dressed in a pink and red dress standing in front a medieval-looking castle.

A moment later Hamuko watch and listened as Yukiko declared she was going to 'score herself a hot stud' and ran inside the castle. After that, the TV turned off.

_What did I just watch?_ She wondered to herself. Her thoughts were interrupted by her cell phone ringing on the table. Grabbing it, she opened it and saw that it was Chie calling her.

"H-hello?"

"Senpai, did you watch? Tell me you did not see what I just saw!" said a very worried sounding Chie.

"Well, if you're talking about that princess-looking Yukiko, then I can't really say that..." trailed Hamuko.

"Oh, man, oh gosh..." Chie was sounding like she was going to lose it at any moment. "Okay, okay calm down Chie. I...I'll call her cell phone first and then the Inn. I'm sure she's still busy at the Inn, that's all."

"Should I do anything?" asked Hamuko, worried that Chie might think she wasn't being serious or concerned about Yukiko.

"N-no, I've got it under control," said Chie. "I'll call you tomorrow and let you know what's going on." A clicking sound was heard, indicating that she had hung up.

_Please let Chie be right,_ sighed Hamuko as she laid down on her futon. But something in the back of her mind knew that that just wouldn't be true.


	14. Chapter 14

**April 17th – Early Morning**

When Hamuko awoke, she was quite anxious. Considering what she had seen on the Midnight Channel, she was fearing the worst. As she rose out of bed, she didn't hear any police sirens going off, so it was a small comfort that nothing had appeared to have happened. At least not yet. She walked to the bathroom and checked herself out in the mirror. Hamuko wasn't too disappointed at the image that stared back at her, a somewhat more healthy looking girl that the one that had just left the hospital.

After she washed up and put on her uniform, she walked downstairs to be greeted by Iris cooking, and Takao reading a newspaper at the table. She noticed that he was wearing a suit that some of the men that worked at the Amagi Inn wore.

"Do you have to work at the Inn today, Takao-san?" asked Hamuko as she took a seat across from him.

Takao nodded. "The Inn is still overburdened, so it can't be helped. Besides, it's better than sitting here all day."

"Just don't overdo it, Gramps," said Iris as she finished cooking the fried eggs she was working on. "You're not getting any younger you know."

"And I always have you to remind me of that," chuckled Takao as he picked up the coffee cup next to him. "Don't worry Ayame, it's nothing I can't handle."

Iris sighed as she put the eggs on a pair of plates and grabbed the two pieces of toast that had popped up from the toaster. When she laid the plate down in front of Hamuko she suddenly noticed what the girl was wearing and gave her a quizzical look.

"Um...is there something on my face?" asked Hamuko as she tried to figure out why Iris was looking at her like that.

Iris shook her head. "It's not that, but... you **do** know its Sunday right?"

"Um, yes?" said Hamuko as she was still trying to figure out what the point of this was. Then it suddenly hit her. "Oh! I'm wearing my uniform because, well, I kind of don't have anything else to wear."

"Well, we have to do something about that don't we?" said Iris as she sat down next to Hamuko and started eating. "Tell ya what- soon as we're done eating, I'll take you to Junes to get some new clothes. No way should a girl be stuck wearing the same thing every day."

Thinking back, Mitsuru had written almost the same thing in the letter she gave Hamuko when she boarded the train. She had been so busy the entire week that she had forgotten about shopping for herself. Still, there was the issue with Yukiko. Chie said she would take care of that herself, but since she hadn't called her back, maybe things were okay?

"Sounds like a good idea," said Hamuko as she reached a decision. "I guess it would pretty silly to be the only girl in town wearing her school uniform on her days off."

Iris nodded. "Not to mention all the funny looks you'd get; I wouldn't be the last one to give you one, trust me."

After a few minutes of making small talk with the two adults, Hamuko watched as Takao finished his coffee and stood up. "Well I'll be going then. I'll see you two later."

"Later, Gramps!" said Iris as she waved goodbye to him. "Say 'hi' to Yukiko for me if you see her!"

_If you see her_. That part nagged at Hamuko a bit as she finished her food. Of course he'd see her. Takao will show up for work, and Yukiko will be there to greet him. Everything will just fine...

"Okay, let's get going," said Iris as she sat the dishes in the sink. "We don't want to wait too long, otherwise the crowds are going to be looooong!"

**Junes-Morning**

As Hamuko stepped out of the car to walk into Junes, she noticed that it was sunny for a change. It had rained so much the last week that it almost seemed strange to see the sun out like this. The fact was not lost Iris either.

"Man, it sure feels good to not have to carry around an umbrella for a change," she said as the two walked up to the entrance of Junes. "Hopefully we won't have such dreadful weather again for awhile."

"It would be a nice change," added Hamuko as they walked into Junes.

Once inside, Iris lead them to the elevator and pushed the button for the left side elevator. A few moments later, the right side elevator dinged and opened for them.

"Why does it always do that?" Iris wondered as they entered the elevator. "You'd think a place like this would had elevators that work properly."

Hamuko remembered that this happened to Yosuke when he called the elevator as well. She guessed that even a place like Junes had its quirks.

After the elevator reached the second floor, the pair got off and Iris then led them to a clothing store a short distance away.

"Alrighty, go find something you like," said Iris as she began to walk to another section of the store. "I'll be over in the linger- uh sleepwear section."

_Iris doesn't seem to be the kind of woman that buys that sort of thing. Does she have a boyfriend?_ Hamuko wondered as she went to the winterwear section of the store. _Eh, best to not ask_.

Hamuko began perusing the various articles of clothing, looking at various sweaters, skirts, and dresses in the hopes she'd find something that suited her taste. A pink sweater appealed to her a little bit, but she didn't think it would look very good on her, so she passed on it. There were a few other sweaters that met the same fate until her eyes came upon a cream colored one with a mocha stripe on the chest area. Yes, this one seemed to the one she was looking for.

Next was a bottom piece; there were a lot skirts and pants for her to look over, but it didn't take very long for her to spot a skirt sporting multiple orange on black on white square patterns. It appealed to her enough to take it without looking at any other options.

She looked around for a few accessories and picked out a pair of black tights, a reddish-orange scarf that matched her headphone color, and a pair of brown knee high boots. Satisfied with her choice, she went to look for Iris.

She didn't have to look far, as she wound up finding Iris checking out a little black dress.

"I, uh, finished picking out what I wanted," said Hamuko with some hesitation, not wanting to bother Iris.

"Oh!" Iris quickly turned around and looked like she was embarrassed be seen looking at the dress she was looking at. "Hmm, let's see..." She looked over at the articles of clothing that Hamuko had chosen and nodded. "Not bad. Let's go purchase em."

"What about you?" asked Hamuko. "Are you not getting anything?"

"Uh, not... yet," said Iris as she led Hamuko to the checkout counter.

Hamuko watched as the cashier rang up the items and gasped as she saw the final price.

"That'll be 38 thousand Yen please."

Iris nodded and handed over her credit card.

"Wait, Iris I have money..." protested Hamuko.

The woman responded by shaking her head. "Nah, don't worry about it, Hamuko-chan. Consider this as a late welcoming gift."

"A-are you sure?" asked Hamuko, surprised that Iris was acting like that amount was pocket change.

"Yep," answered the reporter as she took her credit card back and signed the receipt. "Alright, go change. Changing rooms are in the back."

Hamuko nodded and left to change into her new ensemble. It didn't take very long to get out of her uniform and into her new clothes; the hardest part was making sure she had removed all the tags from her new clothes.

After putting on her headphones and scarf, she looked at herself in the mirror and was pleased with what she saw. Everything looked on her just as she hoped they would. She put her uniform and shoes in the bag that was meant for her clothes and went back to meet Iris.

Upon arriving at the front counter, she saw that Iris had a bag of her own that contained some kind of clothing.

"Hey, that looks really good on you!" said Iris, who seemed just as pleased as Hamuko with the results. "You have a good eye for fashion!"

"Oh, I don't know..." said Hamuko with a blush. "Hey, aren't you going to try out your new outfit?"

"I, uh, I'll try it out later when I get home," said Iris, her face blushing more than Hamuko's. "In my room. Alone. With no one else around."

"O...kay?" Hamuko seemed confused by Iris' sudden balking at a seemingly innocent question, but chose to drop the subject as the two exited the store and sat down on a nearby bench. Iris looked at the ground and let out an almost forlorn sigh. "Are you okay Iris?"

The reporter looked up and nodded. "Oh, sorry 'bout that Hamuko-chan. It's just that... It's been awhile since I've gone shopping with a girlfriend, you know? Life after high school has been a mostly lonely one for me; goes with my profession. No time for friends or family, just work, work, work. It's kind of sad that now is really the first time I've been able to come back home and really relax with someone."

"Oh I didn't know," said Hamuko. "I guess being a reporter is harder than I thought..."

"Eh, it was my choice really," said Iris after taking a deep breath. "I'll tell you more about it later, maybe." She then slapped her cheeks before standing up. "Okay enough reminiscing for one day. I'm sure there are better things for us girls to do."

Suddenly, as with Chie and Yosuke, there was a voice in her head. "__Thou art I... And I am Thou... Thou hast established a new bond... It brings thee closer to the truth... Thou shalt be blessed when creating Personas of the Tower Arcana..."__

Yet another Social Link? It made sense to Hamuko that this one had formed- Iris never opened up to her like this before.

Before she could think on it any further, the two heard a commotion coming from the stairs nearby. Hamuko and Iris went to go see what was going on, and got a huge shock to see both Yosuke and Souji being led in handcuffs by some policemen.

"Uh, were your friends in some kinda trouble?" asked Iris as she watched the boys get led away.

"N-not that I know of!" said Hamuko. Souji didn't look like the kind of person that would shoplift and wasn't Yosuke the Junes owner's son? What could they possibly have done? There were some murmurs from the onlookers, but nothing that was credible enough to draw an accurate conclusion. It wasn't until Chie arrived a few seconds later from the stairs that they would finally get an idea as to what happened.

"Oh, thank goodness you guys are here!" she said, trying to keep herself from panicking.

"Calm down there, Chie-chan," said Iris as she tried to settle the girl down. "What's going on?"

"You should ask Yosuke Hana-Dumbass that!" fumed Chie as she gathered her wits. "What was he thinking?"

"What do you mean Chie?" asked Hamuko, concerned that Yosuke had done something rash.

"The idiot brought some swords to the store and was waving them around on the roof with Souji-kun," explained Chie. "Some policemen saw them and well, this happened... I was lucky and was running late, so I arrived at the tail end of all this, otherwise I'd be carted away with them."

"You have **got** to be kidding," sighed Iris as she headed to the elevators. "Come on girls, let's head to the police station..."

"I really can't believe what an idiot Yosuke can be sometimes," grumbled Chie as the girls entered the elevator. "And, the nerve of **you** Senpai, blowing me off like that!"

"Huh?" Hamuko looked confused, as she was. "What do you mean?"

"Yosuke called me this morning and said he wanted the four of us to meet up here," explained Chie. "He asked me to call you to let you know, which I did, but all I got was voice mail!"

"My phone never rang at all this morning!" exclaimed Hamuko as she retrieved her phone from her handbag. "See?" She handed Chie her phone who took one look at it before shaking her head.

"Senpai... The battery's dead," she told her as she handed back the phone. "You do know you have to charge these things right?"

Hamuko's face turned red with embarrassment. That was all Chie needed to see to know that Hamuko had no idea.

Iris saw the look on her face too and chuckled. "Well, no use crying about it now. I have a charger in the car, so we can probably get it working again by the time we reach the police station."

The three of them quickly left Junes and hurried to Iris' car. Chie literally jumped into the backseat the moment Hamuko opened the door on her side.

After Iris took Hamuko's phone and attached the car charger to it, she began to drive to the police station.

"I hope for those boys' sakes that Ryo-kun is at the station, otherwise they're in serious trouble," sighed Iris.

"Great, just great," grumbled Chie. "As if not being able to get ahold of Yukiko was bad enough..."

"Hmm?" Iris seemed quite concerned with Chie's last statement. "She still not back home?"

"What do you mean 'still not'?" asked Hamuko. "She was there when we went to the Inn yesterday afternoon..."

Iris was silent for a few moments before responding. "Well, after dinner I took a trip up to the Inn to see how things were going up there. The thing is... She wasn't there when I showed up though."

"What, really?" asked Chie, not liking what she was hearing.

"...It gets worse," said Iris, her expression becoming the most serious Hamuko had ever seen from her. "I didn't want to freak you out Hamuko, I didn't tell you earlier but her parents wound up filing a missing person report before I left. They think that she ran away from home."

"What?! If that was the case, the first place she would go to is my house!" said Chie, now back into panic mode. "And I can tell you that's **not **where she is! It's no wonder she didn't answer my calls this morning!"

"Iris this would have been important to know sooner," said Hamuko, somewhat upset. "Yukiko is our friend..."

"She's my friend too you know," answered Iris in an almost angry tone. "But this sort of thing is best handled by the police. If we start panicking now it'll only make thing worse. Trust me I've been through this sort of thing before."

Chie and Hamuko, both fell silent after hearing Iris speak like that. They knew Iris was not the type of person get upset easily, and it sounded like she was just as upset as they were.

The rest of the trip to the police station was quiet, as was the walk into it. When Iris walked up to the front desk to inquire about Yosuke and Souji, the officer nodded.

"Yeah, they're with Detective Dojima right now," he told her. "Pretty sure he's almost done with 'em."

Iris thanked the officer and told the girls the news.

"Whew, well that's a relief," said Chie. "Now I can focus on chewing out Yosuke when I see him!"

She wouldn't have to wait long, as Yosuke and Souji emerged from the back hallway into the lobby a few minutes later.

"There you are!" fumed Chie as she walked up to the two boys. "What is wrong with you guys?!"

"Uh, it was just a misunderstanding," said Yosuke as he rubbed the back of his head. "I'll tell you about it later. But more importantly, something's going on with Yukiko-san!"

Hamuko tilted her head. "You guys know about her already?"

"I called her house a bunch of times last night, and this morning, but she didn't answer," said Chie. "And when Iris visited the Inn last night, she wasn't there!"

"That sounds like what we overheard," Souji said as he took in the information.

"So that means we really do have to go now," added Yosuke.

"Hmm?" asked Iris. "Go where?"

"Uh, go...look for her of course!" said Yosuke as he tried to cover up his mistake. No way did he want to tell her about the TV world. "Chie knows her the best, so we should go look in places she'd think Yukiko would be."

"Makes sense," said Iris, not realizing that Yosuke was hiding something. "And a good idea."

"Yeah, but that aside, the cops are saying some worrying things," Souji added. "They think she's trying to lay low for some reason."

"Apparently Ms. Yamano bitched her mom out and her mom wound up collapsing because of it," said Yosuke. "The cops are thinking that that give Yukiko-san a motive, and well, the fact that the reporter died shortly after..."

"What?!" fumed Chie. "They think Yukiko did it?! Are they crazy?!"

"H-hey don't shoot the messenger!" said Yosuke as he backed away from Chie.

Things were starting to look really bad to Hamuko, with both Chie and Yosuke near hysterics from what was going on. Fortunately Iris defused the situation.

"Okay, Ryu-kun can't possibly think that's what's really happening here," she told the group. "I'm going to stick around here and wait for him and see if I can't get a better handle on things. Why don't you all go and see if you can find Yukiko?"

The three teenagers looked at each other and nodded.

"Alright, thanks Iris," said Yosuke as the group turned to leave.

"I'll see you later tonight then?" asked Hamuko.

Iris shrugged. "Depends on what else I find out. But I'm sure everything will be fine."

After the group left the police station, they all let out a collective sigh.

"Great," said Yosuke as he looked at the ground. "With the police on the wrong track, that means it's all on us."

"So we go to the TV world?" asked Hamuko.

"Seems like the best idea," nodded Souji.

"Well, I'm going too!" declared Chie. "I'm going to save Yukiko, and there's no way you guys are going to stop me!"

"Wouldn't think of it," said Yosuke. "But... well the cops just confiscated our weapons. We can't go in unarmed."

"And I don't think the golf club and hockey stick that we left behind in the TV world is going to cut it," added Souji.

"Weapons huh?" said Chie as she thought on the subject. A moment later she snapped her fingers. "Oh, I know just the place! Follow me!"

"Oh, I'd better grab my phone," said Hamuko as she quickly went to the car and retrieved it. She turned it on and sure enough, there were about 20 missed calls, all from Chie. "Okay got it! Let's go!"

**Afternoon-Shopping District**

Chie had lead the group all the way to the Shopping District and stopped in front of an unassuming looking store.

"Uh, Chie, what's in here..." asked Yosuke, unsure if Chie had led them to the right place.

"You'll see, come on in!" answered Chie as she opened the door and walked inside. Hamuko followed and when she entered the building she was greeted by the smell of iron and fire. As she looked around she saw various metal weapons and armors. _Is this a blacksmith shop?_ She wondered.

Apparently, she wasn't the only that was wondering what kind of shop Chie had lead them to.

"Uh, Chie, what kind of place is this..." asked Yosuke as he looked around nervously.

Chie shrugged. "I don't know its official title. But this place sells all kinds of metal stuff- weapons and armor and the like. You know, katanas and whatnot."

"And that's supposed to be normal to you?" asked Yosuke. "And...how do you even **know** about a place like this? Did you watch too many movies and then..."

"No!" fumed Chie as she kicked Yosuke in the shin. "I heard some guys in class talk about this place, that's all!" She walked to a piece of armor that was better suited for a samurai. "Hmm, this one looks good, but I think it's a bit too big..."

"At least try to pick something practical," sighed Yosuke. "It's super dangerous in there; you need to take this seriously or we're going to leave you here!"

Chie sighed. "Alright, fine. But you guys should look for things for yourself too."

Yosuke looked around at the various weapons before sighing. "Man what should we get... I mean I wield a mean set of wrenches but this is sort of... different."

"Maybe these'll suit ya kid," said the gruff looking man behind the counter. Hamuko saw that he had a large X-shaped scar on his face and a cigarette in his mouth as he presented a pair of hunting nata. "They're not super sharp, but they'll do what they need to... Provided it's not mischief."

"Oh, no nothing like that Sir," said Yosuke with a nervous laugh. "We're like super weapon otakus, so we like reenacting stuff."

"...Uh huh," said the man. "Well these are meant for novices, so I've no problem sellin' these to you guys. Anything else you're interested in?"

Souji thought for a moment before asking for a sword. The man responded by placing an imitation katana on the counter.

"A chopstick's probably sharper than this, but it's still a sword," said the man. "Again, it's for beginners. And you're no sword master. Yet."

Souji agreed with the selection. When Hamuko saw the man was staring at her, she knew it was her turn to pick out something.

"Do you, um, have any naginatas?" she asked nervously.

The man nodded and went to the back room. A few minutes later, he returned with a wooden version of the spear weapon.

"Won't cut bamboo, but it'll still break an arm if you're not careful," said the man. "Decent weapon for a lady like yourself."

"Oh, th-thank you," said Hamuko.

"What about you Satonaka-san?" asked the man. "See anything that catches your eye?"

Chie responded by putting a pair of samurai leg guards on the counter.

"This is it, Daidara-san," said Chie.

Daidara looked over all the items before nodding. "Well I knew you were into this sort of this Satonaka-san; so I guess you found some like-minded friends then?"

"Ah, yep, that's exactly it!" said Chie in a horribly unconvincing happy tone.

"It's 12 thousand Yen for all of it," said Daidara as he looked over the group.

"Here's 5000 Yen," said Yosuke as he handed over the said amount.

"2000 here," said Chie.

Hamuko reached into her handbag and took out three 1000 Yen bills. "Here's 3000 Yen."

"And I have the last 2000 Yen," said Souji. Daidara nodded and gestured for the group to take their weapons. Hamuko guessed a place like this wouldn't bag merchandise of this type.

After everyone took their respective weapons, Yosuke paused and sighed. "You know... If we walk around town with these, we'll all just wind up getting picked up again."

"Speak for yourself," sighed Chie.

"Um, maybe we could hide them under our school uniforms?" suggested Hamuko. When the other three looked at her without saying anything, she started getting nervous. "Uh, was that a dumb idea?"

"Not at all Senpai," said Souji. "I think that could work."

Yosuke nodded. "Let's go with that then. The store will be crowded until the sale ends, so let's regroup at Junes in about an hour or so."

Chie nodded. "I'll see you guys at the food court then."

As the group left the shop, Hamuko and Souji left together as their route home required the southern exit from the Shopping District. Before they had a chance to start a conversation, they both spotted an ornate looking blue door suddenly appear on the left wall of the outside of the weapon shop. The two looked at each other in confusion. The stranger thing was that the people walking on the sidewalk didn't seem to notice the door.

"You are seeing that right, Souji-kun?" asked Hamuko.

"Yeah, but it seems it's just us," noted Souji as he watched the other people walk past the door without even a second glance. Suddenly a voice spoke in both their heads.

"_So, it finally begins. Now, if you'll both give me just a moment of your time..._"

Hamuko noticed something in her handbag shining. It was the Velvet Key, and Souji indicated that his was glowing as well.

"Could it be?" asked Hamuko. Before she could get a response, everything suddenly went white.

**The Velvet Room**

When Hamuko''s vision returned, she found herself sitting in the familiar blue interior of a limousine. Souji was sitting next to her and facing them was Igor and Margaret.

"Welcome," said Igor. "We have been expecting you. The catastrophe that I warned you both about; it has already claimed human lives in its approach towards you."

"Saki and Ms. Yamano..." trailed Souji.

"And now possibly Yukiko," said Hamuko.

"But you two have nothing to be afraid of, for you both already have the power to fight against it.," continued Igor. "It would seem the time to use your Personas has come."

Margaret extended her hand and a series of cards floated in front of the pair. Hamuko recognized them as the Social Link cards. In addition to Souji's she saw Yosuke, Chie, and Iris' faces on different cards.

"Your Personas are that of the Wild Card," said Margaret. "Their power will help overcome any obstacle **if** you strengthen your bonds properly. Our role is to help make that possible."

"My role is to give birth to new Personas," added Igor. "During your trials, you may come across a type of Card. Bring them to me and you will see what I mean."

"Different Personas?" asked Hamuko asked. "How...how are we supposed to keep track of all that?"

Margaret pointed at the large tome in her hand. "This is the Persona Compendium. It contains a record of ever Persona you have acquired. Of course there are currently two Personas registered thus far..."

"I see," muttered Souji.

"The current yeah is a turning point in both your lives," said Igor. "If the mystery goes unsolved, both of your futures may be forever lost."

"Huh, what does that mean?" asked Hamuko.

"I meant exactly what I said," answered Igor. "Being defeated in battle is not the only way your journeys can come to an end. So it would be wise to not forget this... Now then, when next we meet, you will come here of your own free will." He then gave a chuckle. "I am looking forward to it; until then, farewell."

Once again Hamuko's vision began to fade.

**Shopping District**

Okay, is it just me or does that Igor guy really creep you out too Souji-kun?" sighed Hamuko.

"Yeah I do wonder about him," agreed Souji with a shrug. "But right now I'll take all the help we can get."

**Matsuda Residence**

As Hamuko returned to her house, she was relieved to see that Iris was not there. She didn't really want to try to explain why she suddenly bought a wooden naginata or why she was changing back into a school uniform.

It didn't take long for her to change, but it didn't hide the fact that she had to somehow hide her naginata. Fortunately, she discovered it unscrewed at the middle and that the spearhead could unscrew too. Putting the spearhead into her handbag, she was still left carrying 2 halves of a wooden pole. She decided that although it may look weird, it shouldn't garner too much suspicion. She only hoped the others would fare just as well.

She hurried out of the house and began her trek back to Junes.

**Junes**

When Hamuko had finally arrived to the food court, she noticed that Souji, Yosuke, and Chie had all already arrived. It was just as well- she lived the furthest away from the store. But when she sat down at the table with them, she noticed they didn't look all that enthused.

"Man, we really stick out," sighed Yosuke.

"Well we **are** wearing our uniforms on a Sunday," Chie pointed out. "It's not exactly something students usually do."

"Well at least our weapons are hidden...or most of ours are," said Souji as she saw Hamuko holding the two haves of her bladeless weapon.

"I tried," said Hamuko as she tried to hide the pieces behind her back. "But it's a long weapon, Souji-kun."

"I know, I know," chuckled Souji. "I was just teasing you, Senpai."

"...Oh," Hamuko suddenly felt very stupid for not realizing that fact."

"**Anyway**," coughed Yosuke. "The sale should be ending right about now, so that should take care of any customers. Let's get going."

When the group walked down to the Electronics Department, they were relieved to see that it was devoid of both customers and employees.

"Okay guys, let's go save Yukiko!" Chie declared as she entered the TV. The rest of the group quickly followed.


	15. Chapter 15

**TV World**

The strange, trippy journey into the TV world was still a bit unnerving to Hamuko, but she was somewhat used to it now. Arriving just behind the others, she noticed Teddie and Metis were pacing around the area, with Metis' Persona in tow.

"Wow, you guys guys came at a good time!" said Teddie as he ran up to the group.

"Did you guys sense anyone getting thrown in lately?" asked Yosuke.

Metis turned and faced the group. "That is the situation. I wanted to go investigate immediately, but the bear said to wait."

Teddie nodded. "It's all true! I was **bear-ly** able to keep her from leaving. Oh, that was a pretty good joke! Hee hee!"

The group let out a collective soft groan at the bad pun.

"We don't have time for your awful jokes!" fumed Chie as she backhanded Teddie upside his head. "Do you know where Yukiko is or not?"

"The identity of the person is unknown," answered Metis as she dismissed Psyche. "We do know where to go, however. We chose to wait until you all came, though."

"It's gotta be Yukiko!" said Chie, her face growing with concern. "I just know it! Let's go! Everyone ready?"

"Let's do it!" said Yosuke with a somewhat confident fist pump.

"I'll lead the way!" said Teddie as he waddled to the front of the group. "My nose will guide us with un-bear-eavable accuracy!"

Hamuko winced at the pun but quickly joined the group in following Teddie, with Metis bringing up the rear.

Hamuko listened as the group began discussing the different aspects of Yukiko's disappearance as well as the odd things the Yukiko they had seen on the Midnight Channel was saying. The more they tried to make sense of things, the less they were able to.

As the group continued, they noticed that the scenery gradually shifted from that of a TV studio to that of a medieval theme, culminating at the end with a grand stone castle.

"Hey this looks like where Yukiko was at on the TV!" said Hamuko.

"You're right, it does!" agreed Chie. "Do either of you detect Yukiko's presence inside?"

Metis nodded. "We can't confirm exactly who it is in there, but it is the same person that was thrown in here previously."

"It's definitely her," said Chie, with renewed determination. "I'm going!" Before anyone could stop her, she took off inside the castle.

Yosuke gave a groan of frustration. "Geez there she goes..."

Souji shrugged. "Something tells me we should have expected this."

"Um, shouldn't we go after her?" asked Hamuko. "There's Shadows in there right?"

Metis looked at the castle entrance with a bit of concern. "My sensors are detecting multiple Shadows within. It is not wise to let her be alone."

"You could have said that sooner!" said Yosuke, now very worried. "Let's go!"

Souji nodded and led the group into the castle.

The interior of the castle looked just like Hamuko had imagined it- grand in appearance, with red carpeting on the floor, and large, wooden doors separated the hallways and rooms.

"How are we supposed to find Chie in a place like this?" sighed Hamuko.

Teddie sniffed the air before shaking his head. "I don't smell her on this floor. So she must have gone up already."

"We're supposed to rely on **that**?" asked Yosuke, shaking his head.

"My sensors confirm what the bear has said," replied Metis. "Don't dismiss his sniffing ability, as it is, so fast."

Yosuke shrugged. "Ah, whatever, let's just hurry- uh oh!" Before he could continue, a large group of the ball-with-a-mouth Shadows appeared in the hallway.

"Uh, oh there's four Shadows!" warned Teddie as she skittered behind the group.

"Looks like it's Persona time!" said Yosuke as a card appeared in front of him. "Let's do this Jiraiya!" A large ninja-looking Persona formed in front of Yosuke, looking a little bit like a less frog-like version of the Shadow Yosuke the group had battled previously. As he sent his Persona to fight against one of the Shadows, Souji called forth Izanagi and began fighting two other Shadows, his Zio skill giving him an advantage.

Hamuko gripped her weapon before trying to call out her Persona. "Janna D'arc!" After a few seconds of nothing happening, she tried calling out her Persona again with no results. "Why isn't it working?"

Metis paused for a moment before handing Hamuko her Evoker and holster. "You may need this, Hamuko-san. You used it the last time you summoned your Persona."

Hamuko was about to ask why Metis had it when she remembered that she had left left her Evoker at the entrance with Teddie and Metis when she left with the others the last time. She assumed she had to use the Evoker the same way she had last time, and put the barrel of it against her head before pulling the trigger. Again, her mind felt like it was being both sucked inwards and pulled apart at the same time, but it was only a temporary feeling, and the result in the end was her Persona appearing. Hamuko willed Janna to assist Yosuke and Jiraya, who were both fending off a pair of Shadows.

"Whew, bout time Senpai!" said Yosuke as Janna crashed her shield into the Shadow that Yosuke was defending against.

With their two Personas working together, Yosuke and Hamuko made short work of the Shadows the were pitted against. At the same time, Souji had dispatched the two that he was fighting against.

"Wow, great work everyone!" said Teddie as everyone regrouped. "Except you Meti-chan; you didn't do anything!"

"Shut up!" grumbled the robot girl as she shoved Teddie onto his back. "They didn't need me for this fight."

"Not again!" whined Teddie as he flailed his arms and legs trying to get upright again. He was finally able to do so with the help of Hamuko, for which he was grateful.

"Let's just keep going..." sighed Souji as he lead the group down the hall. They didn't have to go very far until they reached a room that contained a staircase going up.

"Guess we have no choice then?" said Hamuko as she looked at the others.

"Not if we want to find Chie," said Yosuke. "Let's go, Partner!"

Souji nodded and headed up the stairs first, with Yosuke and Hamuko following behind. Upon arriving at the next floor, the hallway was obstructed by a large door. When Souji moved to open it, Metis stopped him.

"Wait. I sense your friend past this door," she said. "Are you all ready for what may happen?"

The three students nodded, and Souji pushed open the door.

The group rushed into the room to see Chie standing in the middle of the room which looked like an open ballroom that fit the castle theme. A few moments later they could hear Yukiko's voice throughout the room.

"Chie said red looks good on me."

"Yukiko?" Hamuko called out. "Where are you?"

"Yukiko... I always hated my name," continued the voice. "'Snow' it's cold and melts quickly; it's worthless, just like me..."

Chie looked at the ground sadly and muttered he friend's name.

"Hey are these Yukiko-san's inner thoughts?" asked Yosuke as he looked around. "It's a lot like Saki-senpai's."

Teddie nodded. "I think so. I bet this castle is here because of this Yukiko person."

"Chie was the only person to give my life meaning," Yukiko's voice continued. "She's strong and can do anything. Compared to her I'm..."

"This is what she really thought?" asked Hamuko. True she didn't know Yukiko that well, but she didn't the impression that what she had just heard was what Yukiko felt all the time.

"I don't deserve any of it," said Yukiko's voice. "Chie is so kind..."

"Yukiko..." trailed Chie, clearly disheartened by what she was hearing.

"Chie is so kind huh?!" said a harsh sounding voice on the far end of the room that sounded frightfully similar to Chie's. "What a joke!"

"Wha?" Chie rubbed her eyes a moment before scanning the room to find who it was that had just spoke. Her answer arrived in the form of another Chie appearing out of seemingly nowhere on the other side of the room, wearing the exact same clothing that the real Chie was wearing, with only the yellow eyes being different.

"What's going on?" asked Hamuko as she looked at the other Chie that appeared. "Is that..."

Metis responded by gripping her weapon tighter and nodding. "That is a Class A Shadow!"

"I-it's the same as Yosuke!" said a nervous-lookingTeddie. "She's lost control over her other self! Now it's a Shadow!"

"Are we talking about **that** Yukiko?" chuckled Shadow Chie as she leered at the real Chie. "She says she worthless! Ha! That's how it should be right?"

"What?!" asked Chie. "What are you saying?"

"Yukiko's soooo pretty, soo fair-skinned... sooo feminine!" said Shadow Chie in an angry tone. "She's the one all the guys want! When Yukiko looks at me with such jealousy, man do I get a charge out of that! She knows the score; she can't do anything if I'm not around! I'm way better than her!"

"N-no! I've never thought that!" Chie said, trying to block out what her other self was saying.

"Oh, crap..." Yosuke trailed as he looked at the two Chie's nervously. "What are we going to do?"

"We need to protect Chie," said Souji as he drew his weapon.

"That's right!" said Teddie as the group approached the real Chie. "We need to protect her right now!"

"No, don't come near me!" said Chie as she started to panic. "Don't look at me!"

"You need to calm down!" said Hamuko.

"No, no!" cried Chie as she backed away from the group. "This... this isn't me Senpai!"

"Wait, don-t!" Yosuke's pleas were cut off by Shadow Chie's words.

"That's right, I'm the pathetic one!" she chuckled. "I can't win as a person, never mind as a girl! But Yukiko depends on me! That's why she's my friend; as long as she needs me, I'll never loosen my grip on her!"

"I don't think of her like that!" argued Chie. "It's all lies!"

Shadow Chie only chuckled at the other Chie's attempt to rebuff her statement. "So you're just going to deny me again huh? But this are different now. This time I'll be the one left standing! You won't mind will you? You are me after all!"

"No!" shouted Chie, who had reached the breaking point. "You're..."

"Don't say it!" pleaded Yosuke.

"You're not me!"

At this, Shadow Chie began laughing maniacally and was soon engulfed in a black mass of Shadows. A few moments later, the transformation was completed. To everyone's horror, Shadow Chie had become a huge monster, resembling a dominatrix clad in yellow leather armed with a whip and being held up by several shadows dressed in the school uniform.

Chie fainted at this, just as Yosuke had done when his Shadow self had transformed.

"I am a Shadow. The true self!" Declared Shadow Chie when the transformation was complete. "What do you all think you're doing? Trying to protect the 'real me'?!"

"You guys need to hurry and use your powers to save Chie-chan!" said Teddie, who was clearly frightened by the new monster.

Hamuko nodded and watched as Souji and Yosuke called out their Personas. Not wanting to be a bystander, she took her Evoker, pressed it against her head and pulled the trigger. Her Persona appeared as well and marched up next to Jiraiya and Izanagi.

"Aren't you going to call out yours Meti-Chan?" asked Teddie.

"Not yet," said the robot girl as she gripped her weapon and joined the others.

Shadow Chie only laughed at the group and shook her head. "We're just getting started and you're all so deadly serious! How utterly **lame!**"

"Yeah, I'll show you how lame we are!" growled Yosuke. "Garu!" A moment later Jiraiya cast a wind attack like Psyche had done to his Shadow in their fight. It was enough to knock Shadow Chie off her 'seat' as it were and onto the ground.

"The enemy is down!" said Metis as she pointed forward. "We must attack!" She then charged forward with the others close behind. The group began pounding Shadow Chie with a flurry of kicks punches and whatever else they could think of. After a few seconds of this Shadow Chie knocked them all back with a wave of her massive arm.

"You'll pay for that!" she shouted before sending multiple lightning bolts at the group. Hamuko yelped after getting struck by one- the sting of an electric attack wasn't something she was used to after all. Souji and Metis also reeled back somewhat from the attack, but Yosuke looked like he was affected the most as he dropped to his knees after getting struck.

"Oh, man what the hell was-" Yosuke's sentence was cut off by another blast of electricity, this time aimed specifically for him. "Arg!" He cried out from the pain and collapsed on his back. "I-I can't..."

"Aw that's too bad!" taunted Shadow Chie as she cracked her whip at Souji, who had barely dodged it. "I was hoping to have a little more fun than that!"

"Oh, no Yosuke's hurt!" Teddie cried out from behind the group. "W-what are we gonna do?!"

"Stop whining and start being useful for starters!" growled Metis as she called out Psyche. "Garu!" Another wind attack hit Shadow Chie, once again knocking her off balance.

"L-let's attack her again like last time!" said Hamuko as she, Souji and Metis charged at the incapacitated Shadow. While they did this, Teddie ran up to Yosuke and produced a small glowing bead.

"I-I don't know if this will work but..." Teddie held the bead over Yosuke and a moment later a glow emitted from it and shined onto Yosuke, who began stirring.

"Ugh," muttered Yosuke as he stood up. "I'm pissed off now!" The then joined the others in attacking Shadow Chie.

"This is getting on my nerves!" shouted Shadow Chie as she finally knocked away her attackers a second time. "That won't happen again!" A second later a green shield appeared in front of her for a moment before vanishing. "Try that again, I dare you!"

"Sure thing!" said Yosuke as he willed Jiraiya to appear again. "Garu!"

"Wait, Yosuke!" Metis tried to warn him about the attack but it was too late. The wind attack glanced harmlessly off Shadow Chie who responded by snaring him with her whip.

"What the-" Yosuke struggled to free himself with no success.

"N-now what?" asked Hamuko, who was starting to panic. As bad as Yosuke's Shadow fight was, this was looking far worse.

"Well we can't give up!" said Souji who charged forward with his weapon, but only managed to get snared as well.

Shadow Chie began laughing as she held to two boys upside down in front of her. "Oh I'm having so much fun! But we can't let the boys have all the fun can we?" She stared at Hamuko a moment before snapping her whip at her. Hamuko could do nothing more than close her eyes as the attack came her way. But when she heard the snap and no pain she opened her eyes to see Metis had intercepted the attack and the whip end had wrapped itself around her left arm.

"You have to do something Hamuko-san!" she said as she pulled at the whip.

"I-I..." Hamuko was so scared she was at a loss as to what to do. It was clear Metis couldn't hold out much longer, and if she fell, then the fight would be almost impossible with just her able to fight. "Janna, Bash the enemy!" Her Persona responded by raising it's riot shield and charged at Shadow Chie. The impact didn't appear to do much damage, but it did allow Metis the chance to increase her leverage on the whip.

"No choice now..." Metis said. "Orgia Mode!" Suddenly steam began forming from the robot girl's head as she tugged on the whip.

"What?! How can this be?" growled Shadow Chie as she pulled on the whip harder.

"Just a little more..." Metis pulled as hard as she could on her end of the whip, succeeding in toppling over Shadow Chie. But the force proved to be too much on her arm and it snapped off at her shoulder.

"Metis! A-are you all right?!" Gasped Hamuko.

"I'll...live," replied Metis, who looked like she was in a great deal of pain. "Your friends are freed! Go help them!"

Hamuko looked over to see that Yosuke and Souji had indeed broken free as Shadow Chie was struggling to right herself.

"I won't give her another chance!" said Hamuko as she summoned her Persona again and ordered her to Bash Shadow Chie once more. Yosuke and Souji took the opportunity to call their Personas as well and began using them to attack Shadow Chie. This turned out to be enough to defeat the Shadow as she collapsed and reverted back to the Chie-looking form.

The real Chie slowly got to her feet and approached her other self.

"Got... nothing to say anymore?"

"Chie, it's okay," said Hamuko as she approached the girl.

"But I-"

"We all have different faces," said Souji as he put a hand on the girl's shoulder.

"W-we do?"

Yosuke nodded. "It's true. I went through the same thing, so I can understand. We... all have a side like this."

Chie looked at Yosuke and then back at her other self.

"I think... I get it now. You are me. A side of me I couldn't forgive and tried to ignore. But no matter how much I tried to ignore you, you still exist. You're a part of me..."

The other Chie nodded and vanished. A moment later a large Persona-like being appeared over Chie for a moment before vanishing. Once it had done so, Chie dropped to her knees.

"Whoa, hey Chie!" Yosuke knelt down next to her.

"I'm... fine," said Chie, who was clearly not. "I'm just a little tired is all..."

"You don't look fine to me," said Hamuko as she shook her head. "But you know... I think she can use the same power as us now."

"I can?" asked Chie.

"That aside, what do you think we should do now?" asked Yosuke.

"We should go back," said Souji.

"I think so too," said Yosuke. "We need to let Chie rest. Also there's Metis..."

Chie did her best to stand back up but could barely do so. "But Yukiko... I have to tell her..."

"We don't know how much farther in she is Chie," said Hamuko. "And we're not in any condition to go in further now..."

"And you need to get your strength back!" said Teddie. "Yuki-chan's normal, so the Shadows won't attack her. They only attack when the fog lifts here."

"So she'll be safe until then?" asked Yosuke.

Teddie nodded. "I'm positive. Also Meti-chan needs to be fixed..."

Metis responded by grabbing her broken off arm and holding it. "I can fix myself, but it will take a little time for damage this severe..."

"But I can't turn back now!" said Chie as she stumbled forward. "I've come so far!"

Hamuko quickly blocked the way. "Then tell us how much further in we have to go! If we all die, what good does that do Yukiko?"

"But-"

"Senpai's right Chie," said Yosuke. "The enemies might be even stronger than your Shadow for all we know."

Chie looked at the stairs leading up to the next floor and then back at the group. "Okay. I'm sorry about before... I shouldn't have ran ahead like that, and because I did, Metis-san is hurt. Or damaged or whatever the right word is."

"All of the above," replied Metis. "But I'll be okay, eventually."

The group slowly made its way back to the entrance to the TV world, but it was clear Chie was looking worse off than the others.

"My head is killing me," she said as she looked at the group. "Aren't you guys feeling the same way?"

Hamuko shook her head. "It's because we have these I think." She pointed at the glasses that Teddie had made her.

"Oh that's right," said Yosuke. "You're not wearing the glasses, so it makes sense."

Chie looked to see that the others were wearing glasses, except for Teddie and Metis. "What's up with those, did your eyes go bad or something?"

"She really didn't notice before huh?" sighed Souji.

"Well that problem is now officially solved!" said Teddie as he produced another set of glasses. Chie took the pair and put them on, and was shocked to see the results.

"Oh wow you're right! It's like the fog doesn't exist at all! Is it really okay for me to keep these?"

"Fo' Sho!" said Teddie.

"Well we have to stop here for today, but I'll be back with these!" said Chie. "You guys better not come here without me!"

Yosuke nodded. "I think that's the smart thing to do. No one comes here alone- it's way too dangerous for that. We gotta work together or we can't solve this case or save Yukiko-san."

"I agree," said Souji.

Chie and Hamuko also nodded and agreed to the proposal.

"So starting tomorrow, let's try to come here as much as we can after school," said Yosuke. "That includes days off. Also..." He looked at Hamuko and then at Souji. "Would one of you mind being our leader? You both got your powers first and you're both better at being in a fight than the rest of us."

Hamuko looked at Souji before shaking her head. "I don't think I make very good Leader material, at least not right now. I'm still trying to recover physically from waking up as well..."

"Oh right, I forgot about that," said Yosuke.

"I'll do it," said Souji. "If that's what you want. Are you sure you're okay with an underclassman leading you Senpai?"

Hamuko nodded. "No problems here; you can set the pace and we'll all follow. But what if he gets sick or something happens and he can't... you know, lead?"

"Then it'll fall to you Senpai," said Chie as she slapped the girl on the back. "You can be the emergency leader."

"W-well, I guess I could if I have too," said Hamuko. "I'd be vice-leader or what's the term?"

Yosuke shrugged. "Beats me, but I'll still call you Senpai either way. But wait, what about Metis?"

The group turned to the robot was sitting on the floor, still holding her detached arm.

"I'll follow whatever your leader decides to do," she said. "As you can see, this world is far too dangerous for even me travel alone anymore."

"Then it's settled," said Chie.

At this she heard the voice in her head speak again. "__Thou art I... And I am Thou... Thou hast established a new bond... It brings thee closer to the truth... Thou shalt be blessed when creating Personas of the ____World____ Arcana..."__

Another Social Link had formed, and this was one between a group of people, not just one person. From the looks of things she could tell that Souji had the same thing happen to him.

"Well, let's get out of here guys," said Yosuke. "We need to get Chie home."

"Bye Teddie, Metis!" said Hamuko as she watched the two begin to work on repairing Metis. "Uh, get well soon?"

**Evening-****Junes**

The four students appeared in the Electronics section the same as last time, and thankfully there was no one around to see them appear as well.

"Let's all get some rest so we can be ready for tomorrow on,' said Yosuke.

"Don't forget to check the weather reports as well," said Souji. "It gets foggy after it rains for several days so be mindful of that."

Hamuko nodded and looked at Chie. "I'll take her home, so you guys go on ahead."

The two boys nodded and went their separate ways, leaving Chie and Hamuko alone.

"You know, I'm not used to the one being saved," said Chie as the two headed for the exit. "I'd always be the one rushing to save Yukiko from some imagined villain. Never thought a real one would ever show up though..."

"Well now's your chance to do a real rescue," said Hamuko. "Uh, not **now**, now, but you know..."

Chie nodded. "We'll save Yukiko, I'll make sure of it!"

The pair made their way to the exit of Junes where they were greeted by a very worried looking Iris.

"There you two are!" sighed the reporter as she approached the two girls.

"Huh? Why are you here Iris?" asked Chie.

"I could ask you two the same thing!" said Iris as she glared at Hamuko and Chie. "You said you were going to look for Yukiko- I had no idea that meant spending the **whole day** at Junes!"

"I-it's a big place!" said Hamuko. "A-and how did you know where we were?"

"Friend of mine told me you came here after you left the Station," explained Iris. "I looked for you but I couldn't find any of you so I waited outside."

"We must have just missed each other," said Chie with a nervous laugh. "I honestly thought Yukiko was hiding somewhere in Junes. I made the other guys and Senpai tag along too, so yeah..."

Iris sighed. "So I missed the whole lot of you somehow... Man I must be getting old then..."

"I, uh, guess so?" said Hamuko with a nervous laugh of her own.

"You're not supposed to agree Hamuko-chan," sighed Iris. "Oh well, there's no point stressing out over it. You heading home Chie-chan?"

Chie nodded. "Yeah we all called it a day."

"Then I'll drop you off in my car," said Iris. "I was going to go home after I found you guys anyway."

The two girls nodded and followed Iris through the parking lot to her car. After getting in and leaving Iris let out a frustrated sigh.

"What's wrong Iris?" asked Hamuko.

"It's Yukiko," said the reporter. "Ryo-kun, er Dojima-san and I put our heads together but we couldn't make heads or tails as to where she could have run off too. It's a bit worrying to be honest."

"I'm sure she'll turn up wherever she is," said Chie, who looked uncomfortable lying to Iris. "This is Yukiko we're talking about."

"Yes it is..." trailed Iris. After a few minutes of driving Iris stopped a house. "Here we are Chie-chan."

"Thanks Iris! See later Senpai!" Chie waved at the them as she left the car and went into her house.

**Matsuda Residence**

The trip back home was silent as was the dinner that Iris had made. With Takao still working at the Inn, the silence seemed almost unbearable to the two of them until Iris finally broke it while the two were eating.

"Look Hamuko-chan, I don't want to start throwing suspicions at everyone and everything I see but I have to admit things today have seemed rather off, starting with your friends getting arrested for waving weapons around."

"Uh, they were just goofing around that's all," said Hamuko. "E-even Chie said that much."

"Yes she did," said Iris. "The thing is... Ryo-kun told me neither of them have a history of doing stuff like that; doubly so for Souji-kun since he is living with him for now. I guess with the murders, Yuki-chan missing and now that going on..."

"I have made some unusual friends," agreed Hamuko. "But you can't think any of us have anything to do with what's going on... do you?"

Iris looked at Hamuko before shaking her head. "Nah, pfft. I'm sure it's just the stress from my job that's making me think of dumb stuff like that."

If only that were true... Hamuko thought.

"Well at least we've got sunny weather coming for awhile so that's some good news at least!" said Iris as she pointed at the weather forecast that was playing on TV.

"Y-yeah, good news," said Hamuko. _Good because that means Yukiko is still alive._

Iris looked at Hamuko as she finished eating before asking another question. "Weren't you wearing your new clothes today? Why did you change into your uniform again?"

"Oh, uh I didn't want to... get them dirty?" said Hamuko as she thought up a lame excuse.

"Well that makes sense- gotta watch out for those sudden dust storms inside Junes!" said Iris. "Then again, you had no idea Chie-chan would drag you there so I suppose it would make sense. Either way you look pretty beat. I guess you're still not 100% huh?"

Hamuko shook her head. "N-not really. I probably should go to sleep soon..."

"Well go on then," said Iris as she collected the dishes. "I'll clean up here."

"Okay, thanks Iris," said Hamuko. She trudged up to her room and plopped down on her futon and fell asleep not long afterwards.


End file.
